Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas weekend with our wonderful family! I hope you guys did too!! Christmas Eve was spent in Gadsden with my parents, grandparents, Aunt Lisa, and her husband Frank. I hadn't seen my Nana & Papa, and Lisa & Frank in a while so it was good to see them. We do Christmas a little more casual than Thanksgiving. We had chicken salad, fruit, veggies, various fixins' to build your own sandwich, deviled eggs, shrimp, and more. It was delicious and a nice break from the heavy, rich foods you see during the holidays.

I took a lot of pictures (per my mom's request and because I enjoy it) of their house. It was decorated beautifully...as always! Here are just a few of the pictures I took:

Saturday, we hosted Christmas at our house for the first time. Joseph's parents, Sister and brother-in-law, Aunt, Uncle, cousins, and brother and his girlfriend came over. I cooked a standing rib roast for the first time ever. It was a little intimidating, but turned out to be really easy, and pretty good too. I will post the recipe in the next couple of days. I also made some cheesy scalloped potatoes (I guess they could be interpreted as potatoes au gratin too) and they were pretty good..and really easy (I'll post that recipe too), green beans, rolls, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus that served as an appetizer along with spinach dip and pita chips, and a veggie tray. We had salad too, and Joseph's mother brought dressing, ham, and sweet potato casserole. Dessert consisted of a few different pies, some fudge, cookies, and the Snuggle pretzel treats. Needless to say, we had tons of food, but we also had a great time catching up. We are so glad we got to host this year and take the load off of other people. I was absolutely exhausted afterward, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It's amazing how quickly I get tired and how sore my body gets. I was aching last night and this morning. Guess that's just part of it! ;)

Here are a few pictures from Christmas last night:

It was a great, family-filled weekend and we were given way too many gifts (well...Hudson was given way too many gifts! HA). I am really excited about the diaper bag my parents got me. I mentioned I liked it and they ordered it! It was filled with little necessities that will need to be carried in it.

It's a Timi & Leslie and has lots of great compartments and accessories..and the best thing!?!?! It doesn't look like a diaper bag! I do not like diaper bags! This can double as a purse for my keys, phone, and wallet!

They also got me a cute camera strap I wanted on Etsy. I love how it has a little more personality than the standard black one that comes with the camera, but it's still neutral.

Hudson really racked up on some awesome clothes, accessories, and necessities! Here are just a few of the outfits he got. There are many more! He also got some adorable shoes, socks, gowns, hangers for his closet (which he needs!!) and a stuffed animal or two.

Here's one of them....from his Aunt Lissa!! ;-)

There are a lot more pictures from Christmas on Facebook, so if you're my friend, feel free to go look at them!

Joseph and I didn't mind one bit that most of the gifts were for Hudson! That's the way we want it and that's the way it should be. We're at the age and the stage in our lives where we're over gifts for ourselves, but of course we always appreciate them. We realize life will soon (if it doesn't already) revolve around our little boy! That's fine by us!! :-) Both of our families are very thoughtful to think to get some wonderful things we'll need in just a few short months, and down the road. His Grandmother-to-be, Priscilla (AKA: My mother-in-law) got him a big set of kids' educational DVDs that we can use with him we when start teaching him to read. They are incredible, and will be invaluable!

We are so thankful to have such wonderful people in our lives. We wish every weekend could be like this weekend...family, fun, laughs, food, and quality time together! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend spending time with your loved ones. I'll post some recipes in the next few days! :-) Have a great week! We only have a few more days in 2010!!! Hard to believe! The countdown really begins come Saturday! AHH!! ;)