Christmas Time is Here

This is gonna be a picture dump of Christmas fun.

Our Christmas this year was super busy but as always, a lot of fun. I feel like Christmas gets so rushed though... We crammed in three activities on Christmas Eve, plus our church Communion service, and it was really too much. I was anxious all day and kept feeling like we had to leave one place to get to another without really enjoying the moment.

We started out Christmas Eve at my parents house to briefly celebrate my sweet, handsome baby brother's 24th birthday. Poor baby gets lost in the Christmas shuffle, but we always take a little time out for him to momentarily celebrate his special day.

The Birthday Boy!

After watching Zach open presents, we headed to Justin's Grandma's house. I did not get any pictures there - but it was loud, crowded and full of little ones ripping open the gifts. I told Justin I always feel a little out of place, though - we are the only ones there without kids (other than his younger sister - whose name is still in the "kids" Christmas drawing!) so when it is present time, we are like those to weirdos just hanging out creepin' on other people's children. Which is silly - because they are our family. I love watching our niece and little cousins as they excitedly open gifts. But it does leave an odd place in your heart when that is what you desire.

We left Justin's Grandmas and headed straight to our church to meet my family, plus Justin's sister and her boyfriend, for Christmas Eve communion. Then, we headed from there to my parents to celebrate with my immediate family.

My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew, plus their new puppy Sunshine "Sunny" Hahs along with my aunt and her friend. Time was crunched because we had to get back to Justin's family, but we had an enjoyable time. We played a white elephant game and the kids opened their gifts.

Ella's Santa Clause impersonation.

We then headed over to Justin's parents to do their side of Christmas, because his Dad and brother both had to work odd shifts on Christmas day. It was a tight squeeze with all of us and a mountain of presents, but it is always a fun time! Wouldn't have it any other way.  I scored some awesome clothes and some new Vera, so really - couldn't get much better for me.

The Bratton Tree

Chaos!

Taking a quick photo break.

Opening gifts.

Christmas morning, Justin and I woke up and had some time just the two (really three with Oreo) of us to open our gifts to one another.

The Poley Tree

Checking out his Santa gift.

Sparkle Toms!

Dress shirts. Oh yeah.

We then headed over to my parents. It is a family tradition for my Dad to cook up a huge and delicious breakfast Christmas morning. We ate ourselves silly then enjoyed opening gifts.

Tree & the loot.

13th Christmas together.

Just because he's so handsome.

Chloe & Zach

We spent the rest of the day laying around in our pajamas and visiting with both our families. It was definitely a wonderful Christmas holiday for the Poleys!

Wicked!

The Saturday before Christmas, Justin and I along with his twin brother and his wife went to the Fabulous Fox to see Wicked! It was AMAZING. Seriously. We had a really good time together.

We went to eat at Zia's on the Hill first, and the food was wonderful :)

With my lovely at Zias.

 

"I need my bangs pinned back to eat!"

After eating lunch, we headed to the Fox. The Fox Theater is a magical place in general. But it was breathtaking decorated for Christmas. There is something about walking in that almost makes me lose my breath for a split second. I LOVE the feeling.

Wicked, like I said earlier, was awesome. I wish we would have had better seats, but hey - beggars can't be choosers, people. The ones we had were fairly expensive! I couldn't get any pictures in the actual theater because CAMERAS AREN'T ALLOWED and the volunteers may lose their JOBS if they let you snap a photo.... But here are a couple outside!

By the pretty tree.

Outside the theater with my favorite people!

 It was such a good day and a great way to celebrate my brother & sister-in-law's SECOND wedding anniversary! I am still a little tiffed they had to go all willy-nilly and elope and get married without us (aka, the two most important people EVER ;-)) but I guess I will forgive them eventually. It's not like it was THEIR special day or anything and all about what they wanted!! At least they allow us to celebrate with them yearly. Hehe.

Total Recap!

Whoa! I have been so MIA here lately. Yikes. Work has been SO crazy. The holidays always bring out the very worst in people....

We participated in the Trunk-or-Treat in our community on Halloween night. We did this last year through our church as well. Justin & I are always the "ring-leaders" of this event. We dressed up as Shaggy and Velma - and of course, didn't get a single picture of ourselves.

The back of our "trunk"

Lots of candy!

This place was PACKED!! The lines were SO long, and most people ran out of candy early. I am not sure how to remedy this, but there needs to be a better solution.

Our little Minnie Mouse came by for some candy (and a few laughs with Uncle Jay) as well.

Too cute for words!

We have spent a lot of time trying to relax and just catch up. Justin is coaching a Little League basketball team, so a couple of evenings a week he has practice. His Grandma Poley passed away at the beginning of November, which was a very hard time. She was very sick and he/we spent a LOT of time at the hospital those last few days. We both missed almost a week of work.

That being said, this little guy sure does make our life happier:

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! Of course, did not get a single picture :) We started the day off at Justin's Grandma's (his Mom's mom) with all of his family. Lunch was delicious! Grandma Jo made fried cabbage especially for us. YUM! My Mom and Dad also prepared a big feast, and we went over there for dinner. We stayed and watched Christmas Vacation, which is our Thanksgiving Tradition.

We were up fairly bright and early on Black Friday, which is a shocker for us. LOL. Although we didn't go crazy, we did end up getting some really good deals and a large portion of our Christmas shopping done.

This past weekend, we laid around and put up a lot of our Christmas decorations. Pictures to come soon!

Independence Day

I am a little late on updating, but better late than never.

We had a really enjoyable 4th of July. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not that we ever do anything super special or exciting, but there is just something I love about the whole patriotic, BBQ'ing, spending time with your family vibe.

We went to the parade that morning, and watched it from our Justin's brother's house. My mother-in-law & sister-in-laws, some friends, our niece and my SIL's mom were there. It was an enjoyable, but hot, time. Sophie really loved the parade, specifically the part where people were handing her candy left and right. After the parade was over, Sophie and I sorted all her candy by groups and counted it. She is too funny.

Later that afternoon, we went swimming at Justin's aunts house with his family. I swear, it was ridiculously hot. Even hot in the water!

Our attempt at underwater photography with J's lifeproof case.

Hey Baba, whatcha doin?

The firework cupcakes I made =)

Finally, that evening we went to watch our town's firework display. Because we were under a no-burn order from the serious heat and drought, it wasn't that special. The mosquitoes were TERRIBLE so we sat in our car to watch.

All in all, it was a great day of fun, sun and relaxation - which was exactly what I needed!

Dads

We actually had a really nice Father's Day weekend!

Friday evening, I received a text from my adorable nephew that said "Hey Baba, I have a swim meet tomorrow in XXX. Do you think it would be cool if we stayed with you this weekend after the meet?" Of course, we couldn't say no. I had to laugh - Sam & Ella planned the entire thing, and got my go-ahead, before even telling my sister. So Saturday afternoon, they came to stay with us. They LOVE being at our house or my parent's (Poppy & Coy) because they can run free. They don't have to ask permission to go outside OR eat whatever they want.

Sunday morning, we got up and I made them breakfast and got everyone ready for church. Ella needed her hair straightened and wanted make-up on. She's a hoot. We went on to church, then afterwards came back to the house for them to change clothes. Then we headed over to Poppy & Coy's house where my Dad proceeded to cook enough southern cuisine for an ARMY! Yum!! Miste & Clay came down to pick the kids up and stayed to eat and hang out. I think that is the first time in YEARS we had all been together with my Dad on Father's Day. He was very excited and also loved his new lawn & leaf blower/vacuum/mulcher combo.

I posted this on my Dad's Facebook last night:

Source: someecards.com via Claire on Pinterest

I had to laugh. We have a running joke in our family that Zach is the favorite, especially of my Mom's.

 I also sent this one to Jay:

Source: someecards.com via Claire on Pinterest

Again. Had to laugh. And it is so, so true. I absolutely cannot wait to see him as a father. He is wonderful with children. I love to watch him interact with our nieces and nephew. He can get on their level in a way that I just can't. Not that he's childish. But he just relates SO well without making it seem like he is treating them like a kid. It's amazing to see the pure love in his eyes when he is with all of them. I get teary-eyed watching him admire Sophie, especially when she does something that is such a "Poley" trait. You can almost see his chest swell with pride when she acts just like him or her Daddy - which, poor child, is often :) So I can only imagine how he will be with our children. I know our day will come, and he will be the BEST Daddy ever.

Oreo also got in on the Father's Day action. He picked his Dad out a card with two dogs on the front, and asked me to order him a two year subscription to Food Network Magazine. He's such a genius dog. And so loving and generous. I mean, spending his entire allowance on his Dad.......



My Dad was the hardest worker around when I was young. While he wasn't home much, I knew he was working to provide for us. He instilled such a strong work ethic in me. I knew that nothing came easy OR free - and I still pride myself on that today. He was such a wonderful, strong man and still is.

I am also very grateful to my father-in-law, who has always treated me like his own. Even before I officially joined the family, he referred to me as his "other baby girl." I have never doubted his love for me or Justin. He is such a wonderful Papa to Sophie, and my heart smiles to think about how much he will love our children, and how much they will love him.

To all the Dads out there: Thank You! Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice to make your families proud. To all those who are Dads in a different way - step-dads, Uncles or brothers who have taken on the role: I admire your compassion and love. To all the Fur-Dads: your pets thank you, too!

I am so blessed to be surrounded by many men in my life who will be wonderful role models, examples, and pillars of love to my future children.

Easter

Easter was a very fun weekend! Thursday evening, my niece and nephew were in town. So Justin and I went over to my parents' house and dyed Easter eggs with them before our evening Church service. They ended up coming home with us and spending the night. About 1:30am I found Ella still awake drinking Coke straight from the 2-liter bottle. What can I say? They know the motto - "What happens at Baba's, stays at Baba's!!"

Sunday morning, Justin and I were at Church bright and early to organize a continential breakfast and Easter egg hunt. It turned out to be a great time. The kids had a blast hunting eggs! I think this is a tradition we will carry on, hopefully.

We then headed straight to Justin's Grandma Jo's for a wonderful and delicious Easter lunch. I was STUFFED to the gills. But it was so worth it. After lunch, the little kids had an Easter egg hunt, followed by the adults. It was competitive. I lost. I stink at hunting eggs apparently.

We headed over to my parents for Easter dinner. My baby brother was home from college, and we spent some time with him and watching Duck Dynasty. That show is awesome. I can't even lie about it.

At the end of the day, though, I stopped to thank my God for sacrificing his ONLY son for my freedom. I cannot even imagine. But I am eternally grateful and a SAVED sinner because He did.