Christmas Day! Day 6=)

So Christmas Day has come and gone, and it was SO MUCH FUN! Good food, good company, and hanging with family, that's all I need to make Christmas a success. Savannah has been awesome down here in Macon, and the rest and relaxation has been much needed. Although, I pray Patti's scale is wrong her bathroom because there is NO WAY I gained 11 lbs in one day!!! (Please no!) Enjoy the pics, and I pray you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!

Enjoying her new rocking chair while opening stocking stuffers....

Loving her new baby doll....

Figuring out her new firetruck that Santa brought her....

Me hugging my new, incredible North Face coat...you all know I'm a sucker for something soft and furry, right?

Joey ready for his Appalachian Trail hike in April...

Savannah showing off her Granddaddy's gift...so humble...

Loving to twirl in the office chair...mad props to Aunt Lah for the cutest outfit=)

Another famous expression of wonder caught on film=) Ohhh....

Christmas Eve...Day 5!

(Savannah lovin' her Macon Granddaddy in her cool new Puma jumpsuit from Auntie Em=)

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So Christmas this year belongs to Joey's parents in Macon. As in-laws go, I couldn't ask for any better. I love coming down and enjoying Patti's always-delicious meals and shooting the breeze as we get a chance to sit back and relax. It is different to celebrate with only four people (and Savannah of course) when I'm use to a full house on my side of the family, but if I've learned anything from getting to know my ever-extending family, it's that change is a good and welcome thing, and every new thing has it's plus side=)

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With that said, I'm going to head back to the couch to continue watching James Bond in Die Another Day, but you stay and enjoy the video below. It's taken me three days to capture Savannah doing this on video, and I hope it makes you smile every time you replay it...as it does us. Sleep tight! Hope Santa comes to see you tonight=)

(This is how she asks for more of anything to eat...it's just too hilarious!)

Sibling Christmas...Day 4!

So, I'm not exactly when the tradition began, but years ago we decided to help extend Christmas in our family just one more day, my family decided to exchange sibling presents on the 23rd of December, which meant we then got to open presents on Christmas Eve, and then again on Christmas Day--three days of celebration=)

Over the years, this tradition has changed to days to aid my immediate side of the family (brothers and sisters) getting together to celebrate together even if we couldn't all be together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day due to any new in-law rotations=)

(Savannah enjoying her gift opening.)

So this year, LA & Tim were sadly absent, not able to come home from Orlando, FL this year, but everyone else was there as we enjoyed each other's company over good food, gingerbread cookie making, and Wii excitement. Of course, with Matthew hanging around, things always get interesting:

Matthew: "Who knows the difference between a man gingerbread man and a woman gingerbread man?"

Everyone Else: ??? What?


Matthew: "Let me show you...."



Gotta love my Matthew=)

And so it continues...Day 3!

Ok, so Monday night consisted of visiting my mom's parents, Meema & Papa George (as Savannah calls him=). They live nearby and invited us over to share in opening presents together, specifically to enjoy watching Savannah open her very first Christmas gift.

It wasn't at all as exciting as one would think it should be, but then again, that's my girl. Nothing really captures her attention for longer than two minutes unless it's a digital device...seriously. But, she did enjoy playing on her new horsey, and one day when she finally gets around to being interested in TV, she'll enjoy it even more, since it hooks up to the television to play interactive learning games....oh, the world we live in! Craziness!

The rest of the evening was spent visiting with Meema & George, enjoying their company, and of course, a game of Hand and Foot. I don't know if that's really the official name for this card game, but it's the only name our family has ever known it by. Anyone else ever heard of it? Anyways, it's always a great way to pass the time enjoying some friendly competion around the kitchen table and talking about this and that at the same time.

I think playing card games is just something our family has always done with Meema. I can remember back when the parents played Cannasta, then I learned how to play Solitaire, Gin Rummy, Skip Bo, Uno, and Phase 10, somwhere along the way. Many hours growing up were spent enjoying time around a good game of cards. I'm pretty sure every card game I know how to play I learned at her house with the exception of Spades, Hearts, etc.--that's my dad's personal favorite=)

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So the evening was warm and friendly and inviting, and I enjoyed every moment, but Savannah was in bed, and it was off to part two of our Day 3 Christmas celebration where we met my brother Matthew and wife Emily at Bailey's for about three hours of shooting pool. Too much fun! Switching up teams, guys against girls, couple against couple, brother and sister against the married-in brother and sister. Oh, we laughed so hard at how badly we played, then cheered so loudly when we did well. Oh, how I love to spend time with my family. Funny how it so often revolves around some sort of competition or game...guess that's just the way we like it=)

I Did it!! Day 2...

Ok, so I am a crafty, creative, make-it-yourself junkie on steroids, literally. But I must say that when a creative project is finished, and I did it almost all by myself (except for the sage wisdom and occasional helping hand from seasoned professionals), there is almost nothing that beats the complete satisfaction of a job well done and new frontier conquered--for better or for worse.

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Here is my latest endeavor....

Yes, this is a stocking sewn by yours truly out of Savannah's first year Christmas baby clothes! Yes, I said her baby clothes...and the inside is lined with one of her receiving blankets=) My sister-in-love's mother, Mrs. Boyd, helped with surging the inside seams at the edge together, and my Dot-Dot embroidered her name (as she has done for my ENTIRE family for as long as I can remember), and whoo-ha-la! A unique one of a kind creation to follow my girl the rest of her life.

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It's not perfect, but therein lies the beauty. This was the first time I have EVER used a sewing machine to attempt anything since HomeEc in seventh grade. So just learning to thread the machine was scary. Then crossing my fingers and attempting a zig zag stitch was scary, and I promise you there's not a straight line of stitching on the entire stocking. Then the binding with bias tape and trim at the top was VERY SCARY. But there it is...all done, and I did it. Not so scared to try it again now, especially since I just had to throw perfection to the wind...kinda freeing when you think about it=)

I'm a Mess!

Well, this post interupts my planned day-by-day chronicle of Christmas delights, but I just had to let you all know that my mom's new kitchen has officially been broken in by Savannah....

This shot taken only minutes before the whole insides of the cabinet ended up on the floor

....gotta love her=) !!!

And So It Begins! Day 1....

Yes, the two week long celebration of family and Christmas has officially begun in the Durham household=) You have to understand. Family is the absolute most important thing to us. Since we have three sides to our family, and mine in particular has about three inside itself, we opt to rotate the actual day of Christmas between families every year; however, that means all other family must somehow be included either before or after Christmas, hence the two week celebration!

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Today Joey, Savannah, and I spent time at my dad's parent's home, my Dot-D0t and Granddaddy Frank. The older these two get the more endeared to my heart they become. They have suffered much physically these past few years. Trips to the doctor for various tests and medication adjustments have become like running errands for them. But, they NEVER complain...not enough to matter anyway.

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Today as I watched four generations gather around the all-too-familiar kitchen table playing a round of dominoes, I had to sigh and revel in the warmth of this familiar tradition--ah, the men in the Bounds family--how they love to compete at familiar games=) And Savannah was right there in the middle, loving every minute of her Grampy's knee.

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As for me, I was helping Dot-Dot in the kitchen, where all good wives should be, right? Kidding...kinda...it's just the way it is on this side of the family=) But I couldn't help but watch my Dot-Dot as we rolled out her famous Martha Washington Candy then dipping it all in paraffin coated chocolate. She has aged, but her gentility has only increased with time, some might say feeble, yet strong still at the same time. I had to gulp back emotion in the back of my throat as I thought about all the years we had done this very thing together.

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And then their was Savannah. Youth and joy and energy and laughter right in the middle of it all. Oh the way God works! Now there is a joy in being a grandparent, I see it in my parents' faces all the time, but there is an even greater joy and satisfaction in the admiration of a great-grandparent. Sometimes, I think the look they have in their eyes must be the same as our New Testament prophetess Anna when she finally laid her eyes and hands on baby Jesus. Oh the glory she gave to God for being able to hold that tiny babe and see that day arrive! THAT is the joy in a great-grandparent's eye....and Savannah is blessed to bring this joy to five great-grandmothers and three great-grandfathers, but I know the two that went ahead rejoice with them in heaven=)

I believe this picture says it all....

...enough said. Let the celebration of Christ and family begin!!!