Advent and Christmas FLEW by! Here's a recap...

I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone (but not really GONE because we still have Epiphany, duh!). I had some really great ideas about blog posts because obviously I have been deep in thought recently and this time of year really brings out the introvert in me.... which kinda sounds like an oxymoron. I digress.

SO here's a quick photo recap of my Christmas season:

It snowed a little in December but we missed the "big" snow on 5 inches. Doesn't our house look so pretty!?

And Rosalyn is not a fan of the cold. Other than the fact that she gets to cuddle a little more.

And I drank a lot of wine. Just because.

We stopped in Fort Scott on our way to Texas and had dinner and opened presents with Patrick's family. I made Patrick and Brian take a Christmas picture with me. They love pictures... sarcasm :)

And we had to take a picture with the dogs! Jett and Rosalyn!

Patrick and I got this from his cousin/godmother...

And Rosalyn got a bone. She loved it... as evident by photo below.

And Patrick stumbled upon this gem! He would like it to be known that I MADE him take this picture. Because I have that kind of power, ya know! haha But seriously check out all those patches! I married a total stud, ya'll!

We ended up not staying the night in FOrt Scott like we planned. We learned that a big ice storm was coming in the middle of the night and we were afraid we would have trouble getting on the road in the early morning. Luckily, we made the right decision and drove about 4 hours south until around midnight to beat the weather! Fort Scott was a sheet of ice the next morning. We stayed in a hotel, got a few hours of sleep and then hit the road again. We made it to Texas safe and sound! And warm! We also ate a Whataburger... 3 times total on our trip. I don't even feel bad about it!

This was Patrick's first Christmas with my family ever. I did my best to prepare him for all of our silly traditions. I think he liked it haha. We went and ate pizza at Greek Tony's and then strolling down Old Town Spring and took all the silly pictures at all the same places that we have been doing since we were little.

So in love with this man. 

Then we came home and watched Christmas Vacation by the light of the Christmas Tree. How Pretty!

Rosalyn and Penny (my family dog growing up) are mesmerized by the million lights on the tree!

We got all dressed up and went to the Cheesecake Factory! Yay! Only problem is that we used to be able to fit 6 people comfortably in my mom's old van, formally known as "The Wilson Bus." Well the van finally kicked the bucket so my mom got a really nice Nissan Rogue... which seats 5 and not all that comfortably. But don't worry. We made it work. We squeezed in and mom was our cargo. I wish I was kidding. I'm not. Mom (in her dress, hosiery and heels) was laying in the trunk area  of the small SUV. ***Disclaimer: No one made her do this. Many volunteered to be the cargo. Many offered to drive a second car. She would not have it. She took the togetherness of the season to a whole new level. God love her :)

Jam packed in the SUV... mom in the trunk.

Oh yeah and I ate my weight in food at the Cheesecake Facotry. Gluttony at it's finest. But here are a few family pictures. We clean up ok, I guess.

Brother and mom... and my bangs out of place.

Dad, Rachel and Patrick... lookin' good :)

Crammed into a booth! And my bangs out of place again!

My favorite person... and my dang bangs. Seriously.

Then we went to Mass at my home Parish, St. Anthony of Padua. It's my home away from home. My other family.

Two of my closest friends from growing up in the Woods. 

No idea why Santa was at Church... but "The Beach Crew" took advantage of the photo op.

And then we came home and did our Secret Santa gift exchange. Let me explain how this is done. We start with the youngest person and end with the oldest. That person has to guess who their Secret Santa is. When they get it right they then have to play 'Hot/Cold" (you're getting warmer, you're getting colder and all that... you know what I mean) to find their gift which is hidden in a secret place somewhere in the house. Then we all watch that person open their gift and there are hugs and thank-yous and all that jazz. And then we move on to the next oldest person and so on and so on. Look how excited we are for Secret Santa in this picture!

Family Photo in our pajamas. Ros has demon eyes like always... and didn't smile. She can be so difficult sometimes!

Well... now we are back to Missouri and getting settled back in after all the excitement of the season. We hit the ground running as soon as we got here to get the house in order. More on that later.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and spent time with the people they love!