Christmas 2013: Gallatin Celebrations

We woke up early early on Christmas morning and headed from Louisville to Gallatin to celebrate with my family. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus along the way. Precious. 

The goofballs... 

 Griffin got a money tree from his Mimi. (About a month ago he randomly told her thats what he wanted for christmas. So random! And she delivered!)

 After breakfast and presents at my parents house, we cleaned up and headed to my Aunt Alecia's to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. Griffin got even more presents (spoiled rotten this Christmas, we are so well loved!)! 

Griffin and his Nanny Martha (my last living grandparent, and his last living great-grandparent). She was in the hospital right before Christmas, so we were very glad she got out in time to celebrate. 

After Aunt Alecia's, we visited Uncle Ashley at work. He even let us go in the master controller room (so many buttons!)! 

 Stockings have always been a big deal in my family. They have always been my sister and I's favorite part of Christmas morning. So we saved the stockings until Ash got off and then took them over to their house. Here is the chaos ;-) (Oh and our "stockings" now come in gift bags with stockings laying on top! haha!)  

 Everytime I would try to take a pic, Misty would pose. What a goof. 

One of the many tries at getting a family pic without my dad looking like he is  on drugs! ha! He cannot keep his eyes open for anything. 

 And finally, one with his eyes actually opened! 

 Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos! 

Another wonderful Christmas. I cherish the time with our families. I feel so blessed to be so close to both Mr.Pate's and my families so we can spend the holidays with both. Griffin was precious this year, and was just a hilarious, exciting addition to have around. We were exhausted after all the non-stop though, so we laid low for several days at home. Oh home sweet home! 

Christmas 2013: Louisville Celebrations

Every year we do Christmas Eve in Louisville. We get together with Mr. Pate's Dad's side of the family at Aunt Lisa's for lunch and it is always a great (loud and chaotic) time! 

 This year, it was right during Griffin's nap time. So we stayed as long as the kiddo could handle, and then Mr.Pate and I left to let him nap. That actually ended up being nice because while the kid slept, we watched a Hallmark movie and cuddled! It was a sweet quiet time amidst a very busy (albeit good) holiday. After the kid woke up, we headed over to Mr.Pate's Mom's for dinner and presents. The last two years we have all celebrated together (both his mom and dad, along with Uncle Ed and the Pate brothers). We had a huge and yummy dinner, played and then opened presents! 

 Dustin, Mr.Pate and I paid for their parents to fly with Sheldon. Neither of them have gotten to go up with him yet. I think they were excited! 

 How big does he look?!! 

 We got Uncle Ed a canvas of him and Griffin. Griffin just loves him! Its funny. 

 Uncle Ed hooked Griffin up too ;-)

 We love us some Toy Story, thanks Grandma! 

 Yes, its a vacuum! Griffin loves to help me vacuum and clean, so Papaw got him some Griffin sized cleaning tools! 

We had a blessed time in Louisville. It always goes by way too fast! 

Christmas 2013: Song edition

All Christmas Griffin has loved singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". He normally sings We wish you a Merry Christmas like this:
"We miss you a Merry Christmas (repeat 3x) and a happy new you...
Good times and a happy green frog" haha!
But of course he didn't do it when I taped :-) oh well, my cute caroler:

- Mrs.Pate via my iPhone

Christmas 2013: Movie Edition

One of my favorite "me things" over the holidays is watching Christmas movies. Love them! I put them on while I am wrapping presents, cleaning etc and its perfect. So far this year, I have watched the following: 

 On Strike for Christmas 

Holidaze 

The Christmas Ornament

Christmas with Holly 

Christmas in the Bayou 

Finding Christmas 

The Mistletones 

A Snow globe Christmas

Let it Snow 

Merry In-Laws 

12 Men of Christmas 

All she wants for Christmas 

Catch a Christmas Star 

 I wish I wasn't too lazy to type out my thoughts on each. But for now, I will just say that The Christmas Ornament was my favorite (I am a sucker for sentimental ornaments), Christmas in the Bayou is my second (because it has Peyton and Chris Keller from One Tree Hill in it!), and Let it snow is my third (I want to go to the lodge in the movie sooo bad!). Christmas with Holly will make you cry, 12 men of Christmas will make you laugh, and On Strike for Christmas will make you think about going on strike for Christmas! Haha. 

 What did you watch this year?

Christmas 2013: Lights Under Louisville

Last year, we went to see the Light Under Louisville in the MegaCaverns. We were very impressed, they were awesome! You can read all about that here.

Griffin has LOVED seeing Christmas lights so far, so we knew we had to make sure and get there while he was still awake. It took us forever to get from the exit to the parking lot to wait, and that was by far the worst part of the long wait. People were being complete jerks and cutting people off. Blah! But once we got to the parking lot it went pretty quickly, and at least we were warm and had a DVD player to keep us occupied. Ha!

The lights were great again this year, and Griffin almost jumped out of the van window he was sooo excited. He yelled with excitement the whole time. Seeing that kind of joy and amazement is so refreshing and special. I love being a parent.