Christmas at Aunt Kim's

Christmas afternoon we went over to Aunt Kim's to have Christmas with them. Not having Mom here at Christmas was hard all the way around. But not having her here while we celebrated with Aunt Kim and Nina was extremely hard. So many things were different. Not bad- just a different kind of Christmas. But we all put on our smiles and forged on for the sake of 2 little girls- and for ourselves. One -very hard- lesson I've learned this year is that just because Mom is gone doesn't mean we can stop living, too. True- we are heartbroken. We hurt. We grieve. Some days we want to sit in the darkness and not face reality. But we must learn to deal with those things while also trying to figure out this new normal that is now our life. We must learn that it is ok to move forward. It is ok to smile. It's ok to live life. And it's ok to enjoy the life we have been given. It's not easy. Sometimes I wonder if people look at us and think "oh, they are smiling and enjoying life. They must not be hurting or missing her any more." That couldn't be farther from the truth. We are just learning to live with a missing piece in our heart. And learning to navigate our new normal.
We arrived at Aunt Kim's just in time for lunch! Everyone else was already there, including James' parents, kids and grandkids! We had a full house of loud and chaos.... just as Christmas should be! Aunt Kim and James and Nina had prepared a huge meal of ham and all the fixings. It was wonderful!!
After we all finished eating, it was PRESENT TIME!! The girls were a big help in passing out all of the presents to everyone. I was so proud of them for being such great helpers and being patient! After everything was passed out, it was finally their turn!
The first thing they opened was from our "German cousin" Alessa!

She always sends them real German chocolate from Germany! It's one of their favorite treats!!
They got a ton of great gifts from Aunt Kim, Uncle James, Kyson, and Nina! Some of the highlights (that I was able to capture pictures of)...
New dresses from Aunt Kim- complete with matching bows and tights! She knows the way to our hearts!!

And new bibles from Nina!

I didn't realize until recently that the girls didn't have real bibles. They had several kids bibles and story bibles, but not a real bible to look up scripture in. And Brenna had been asking for one to take to Sunday School. And of course when Brenna asks for something, so does her little sister! So Nina came through for them!
Macie was sure to thank her with a huge hug!

They got various other gifts, such as Texas Tech shirts from Kyson, but I somehow managed to not get any pictures. I need to hire a personal photographer to take pictures during Christmas! I seem to be too busy to take enough.
I do love this one of Nina and I!

She is the hardest person to shop for- other than maybe Josh. I thought and thought about what I could get her that she would USE. And finally I came up with a Yeti cup for her water at work!! So I ordered the monogram to go on it, and then set out to find the cup. That was a big mistake. I had no idea that Yeti cups were THE gift this year! I had also decided to get one for Uncle James! UGH! I posted on facebook asking for help finding one, and got a ton of comments- but still couldn't find any cups. Then one day, I got a phone call from a friend telling me that one store had just gotten a shipment in of them!! YEA! I drove straight there and got two of the last few they had. People were already in line to get them! Holy moly! Next time I get a brilliant idea for a gift, I am going to make sure it isn't the hot ticket item of the year!!
After presents and some visiting, we decided to head home. We were exhausted from getting up so early and just needed some down time.
I snapped this one of Macie and Kyson before we left-

Yep- they wore flip flops on Christmas day!! Who knew that it would snow 3 days later.....
After we got home, we all needed to just sit and chill. The weather was nice. So the back porch was calling our name! The girls enjoyed the fire that Josh built.

And Josh and I watched tv on the porch. It was a great end to the day.
The best part of the night was watching Macie try to skate on her new skates from Santa. I mentioned that she needed a walker to hold on to.... and MeMawMom came through for us! This was her walker that Josh and I kept in case someone needed it at one point. It came in super handy for Miss Macie! (and her crazy hair!)

But we all had to be in bed early because we still had one more Christmas to go the next morning... Pops and Memaw's!!