A Very Maney Christmas 2011

Ahhh....

Christmas has come and gone once again.

Usually I feel a sense of post-Christmas let down...

can't really say that I'm minding this year.

This was the first (and maybe last) annual Christmas at the Maneys.
Ok, Ok that may be a little dramatic..

Overall, things went well...

Of course we had our fair share of family drama...

but I suppose that's sometimes just unavoidable.

Hopefully the next 363 days will be long enough for me to 

forget about it...kind of like forgetting about the

pains of childbirth!!

Anyhoo..I'll go ahead give myself props for pulling it off.

The menu turned out great...there was more than

enough food and drinks to go around.

Everyone said the house looked pretty,

(not that they would tell me if it didn't...) and we 

got to have several family members over that hadn't been

to our house since we'd moved in.

Christmas Eve we stuck to our annual

tradition of heading over to my Aunt and Uncles house

to have Christmas with them..

I was really excited that we got to spend some

time with both of my cousins. There's only 

4 of us girls that are first cousins, and it's really

a shame that we don't see each other more often..

Kelly and I have made a pact to try and 

be better about staying in touch and reaching out..

Someday we'll be the ones organizing these

things-so we need to stick together!!

Here's a few pictures from Christmas Eve..

Kelly, mom, Ladonna, Uncle Steve and Sarah

pullin' out the old family photos...

Kel

My nuclear family

Undersheriff Jackson

Cousin Brianna...

15 years old and standing 5'10"!!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Barbara

Sisters....

I think we can finally settle the debate on who's

head is bigger....

Christmas Eve night

Mom, Dad and my Uncle Jeff all decided

to stay the night at our house instead of

driving back to Mound City.

Who wants to drive an hour only to turn

around and come back in the morning??

Better yet, who wants to live in

Mound City??

This remains a mystery....

Christmas morning we woke up and I

got busy working on breakfast.

Fortunately, I was able to prepare

most of my dishes in advance-so all I

really had to do was pop everything in the oven..

sometimes it really pays to be Type A..

The Christmas breakfast table!

You never think when you're buying your 

first dining table that you will ever need

anything that seats more than six people...

and then you host Christmas...

After breakfast we opened presents and then

spent the afternoon snacking, visiting and

watching movies while waiting until

it was time to eat again!

Passing out gifts

Clark Griswold in the flesh..

I do believe someone was about to be assaulted

with a shovel...

Dinner is served!!

And now, because I can...

some self indulgent pictures of my

favorite Christmas decorations and 

the tree I worked so hard on...

My little tree with nursing ornaments

...cheesy, right? I just can't help myself..

Our tree!

Definitely the most 'grown up' tree we've

ever had and quite the labor of love...

One of my new favorite ornaments...

my best friend made me this sweet 

ornament with a little gold "R" 

on it for my Grammy.

I will treasure this forever!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas

with your families and friends!!