A Fun and Chaotic Christmas

Last night I had Christmas with Jackie, Troy and Ashlyn. I’ve had Christmas with Jackie and her family for as long as I can remember. You may remember too since I’ve posted the picture below several times before.

Christmas 1992

This year, Jackie’s mom is running around like crazy and has been super busy and couldn’t find a time that was good for all of us to get together for Christmas so this year, I hosted Jackie and the kids at my house instead. It was weird not to have Tim and Jan with us and also weird to have it at my house, but we still had a good time and that’s really all that mattered.

I cooked dinner for us and of course had to throw some chicken fingers in the oven for the kids since they are a little pickier than me and their mother. We had to put The Tide back in the bedroom, now known as “Tide’s Lair”, while we ate so she wouldn’t be drooling all over our plates.

After eating, Jackie and I cleaned up the kitchen and then we got out the Christmas presents which was the whole reason we were together, right? Well, the kids thought so anyway. I got to open my presents first since I had slaved over the dinner – ha! I opened Ashlyn’s gift first. She had picked out a Christmas decoration of a church building for me. It is very pretty.

Not an endorsement for IHop

My lazy eye is looking really lazy in these photos.

Ashlyn looks nice though -  a lovely smile!

Troy’s gift to me was next and he had picked out two Christmas ornaments which were snowflakes. We were going to find a place to hang them on the tree, but that became a thought of the past once he opened his gift.

What's inside the bag?

This is a good photo of Troy. Nice smile, buddy!

We like it when you smile for real - it's way better than the fake smile!

The gift from Jackie was next and she had gotten me a cute Alabama necklace which I knew about because I was with her when she got it. I know, I know. She also surprised me with a pair of candy cane socks that are supposed to moisturize your feet and also a gift certificate to one of my favorite eateries, Sam and Greg’s.

As you can tell I dressed up for the occasion with my finest Rudolph Run 5K shirt and sweats.

Hey, I worked all day and was ready to be comfy!

Tim and Jan sent their gift with Jackie and it was the last one I opened. They usually get me movie passes and when I reached in the bag I thought that’s what it was going to be, but I was surprised to find a gift certificate to Huntsville Massage Professionals for a facial. I’m really excited about this! I love facials and massages and anything else that involves pampering. All the gifts were wonderful – I am really blessed to have such a great family of friends.

Troy is reading what the gift certificate says.

We then moved on to the kids’ presents and I asked them to go one at a time so we could see their reactions when they opened their gifts. Ashlyn went first and received two Fancy Nancy books. I had asked Jackie a while back if Ashlyn liked these and decided to go ahead and get them and then a few weeks later Jackie said Ashlyn said she wanted some more Fancy Nancy books so it was a good gift, indeed.

As for Troy, I was really excited about the gift I got him and wouldn’t mind having one myself. It’s a book called "Harry Potter Film Wizardry" and it has all sorts of information and pullouts regarding the Harry Potter films. It even has a Marauder’s Map! Awesome! Not long after I got the book, Troy saw one in Target and asked Jackie to get it for him. There was only one copy and he was so afraid it wouldn’t be there any longer if she didn’t get it right then and there. So, we figured he would be excited about it and he was. He looked at it for most of the rest of the night except for the five minutes I was able to snatch it from him and look at it myself.

I had gotten Jackie a birthday/Christmas combo present back in September, but I always like to get her a little something else so she will have a gift to open when we have Christmas together. She received luggage tags and a passport holder which will come in handy should she get that big fat Christmas bonus I asked Santa to send her. Here she is trying to figure out what her gift is.

After the present opening was over and I threw some of the boxes in the garbage can, Ashlyn let The Tide out of her lair and gave her a stocking full of dog toys which she proceeded to rip the stuffing out of and tear to shreds. It was probably the most fun she’s had in a while, and yes, she is clearly feeling better since the weather has warmed up some.

Unfortunately, as I had a feeling I would, I forgot to give Jackie my gifts to her parents to take with her but I plan to run them by her office this afternoon. Hopefully they will like their gifts as well.

It was a great night filled with food, family, friends, fun, screaming, laughter, dog barking and everything in between and I fell asleep five minutes after they were out the door. Okay, maybe 10.