Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, we wrapped up the last of the holidays!  Christmas was wonderful....we were lucky to have several days off to relax and spend with our families.  Before we headed to Mississippi, we had our annual Wells Family Christmas here at the house.  I cooked a nice dinner and we opened gifts.  Here are a few highlights..

Manny obviously racked up on puppy toys and tested each one out for about 5 minutes until he settled on stuffed Santa Claus.  Jeremie's gifts included the Jack Cristil book, a MSU steak brander, a discipleship book, and some camo that he picked out.  I got some clothes, a necklace and a new big tote bag, since mine is about 5 years old and won't zip anymore.  I picked it up the next day (it had just come in) and the ladies in the little store were horrified that I was picking up my own Christmas present, especially since I didn't let them wrap it. I immediately went home, packed my stuff in it, and we headed to MS.

It was great to be in MS for a few days and see our families.  We are so lucky that our families only live 30 minutes apart.  I still can't get over the fact that Jeremie & I didn't meet until college, but we grew up just down the road from each other.  In fact, shortly after we met, we realized that his sister also went to my high school & that his mom & my aunt were bridesmaids in each others' weddings!!!  Small world!

Now that I've chased that rabbit trail.......the first stop was Jeremie's parents (now Nona Cate and Papa Mitch) where we caught up and got some sweet time with Baby Judah.  Next stop was the Taylors for a  family get together on my Dad's side. Then back to The Wells for Jeremie's dad's family's side. (Get the drift?) Christmas morning is always spent at Jeremie's grandparent's where we ate a fabulous breakfast (in our pajamas) and opened gifts. Lunch was spent at my Grammy & Big Jack's and we rounded up the day back at the Taylors where we opened more gifts and usually fall asleep in the recliners/couch. In the meantime, Jeremie and I split up for some quality time with our respective families.  I usually manage to squeeze in a shopping trip to Hudsons.  : )

A few of the moments we caught:

Uncle J loves Judah. He was tired from his first Christmas.

Jeremie came back from the woods bearing mistletoe....so sweet.....

Christmas was wonderful and went by too fast.  Before we knew it, we were headed back to Tallahassee to ring in the New Year!  And that we did.  We hosted a bonfire for our Sunday School class, complete with s'mores, fireworks, and yes, our very own 2012 Ball Drop from the balcony.

I know you think this was a pricey piece of entertainment, but don't fret, it's just my exercise ball wrapped in white trash bags and Christmas lights....

The boys were completely entertained by the "pyrotechnics", especially this 30 foot flame from the Donaldsons burning Christmas tree. Oh, the dear boys....

Now it's time to kick off 2012!!!!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!