What a wonderful Christmas

Thank you Lord for yet another great Christmas.

We left Friday morning to go to spend the weekend with my family in Mississippi. After a safe 5 hour drive, Coit, me and Branson picked up our friends, Jennifer and Chris and their precious son Nathan to go see the Christmas lights in Canton, MS. We had a such a great time. The boys loved the lights and scenes. They road the carousel and had their picture taken with Santa. Nathan had a BLAST "driving" the cars but they were a little too fast for Branson. The lights were amazing and being with our friends was such a blessing. As we walked down one side of the square, Jennifer pointed out that Bryson had showed up to say hello. One of the stores had a display that included the same firetruck that she had bought for Bryson when he was in the NICU. As a former florist worker, I know how odd it is to see a seasonal item 2 years later. It was like we were in a Lifetime movie when I saw it. Such a special time!

Saturday, Coit and I spent some time doing some last minute Christmas shopping. We stopped by to visit Bryson's grave. The weather was pretty nasty with lots of rain the entire weekend so we didn't get much more done that day.
Sunday we woke up and SANTA HAD STOPPED by to leave Branson some goodies. He was more excited that I expected. It was priceless seeing him go from one thing to the next, not understanding what all of the toys were there for. He got a 4 wheeler, blow up play house, books, DVDs, PJ's, blocks, scratch pad, wonder paint, a tractor and trailer, a hotwheel car, a couple of trucks, 2 sippy cups, socks, a table and chairs, a little boy bible, puzzles and a  truck like Mr. Johnny bough for Bryson at his funeral. For a while now, he's fussed to get to play with that red truck and I just can't let him. So I searched ebay and found him one like it, just blue instead. He loves it! After opening Christmas presents, we loaded up with Mom and Dad and went to have breakfast with my brother, sister in law, nephew and nieces. They have a tradition of breakfast for the family on Christmas so I was glad to be there this year for it. The kids were excited that Santa had left them all something to ride. Hunter got a dirt bike (scares me to death), Rylee got a scooter and Allie got a 4 wheeler, among lots of other toys. It's always so fun to visit with them. We went back to mom and dads and I partook in a Christmas nap. Although I felt bad about sleeping some of our time away, it was nice and I enjoyed it. Timmy, Sheila and Sully (the puppy) came by to visit. I guess, with the exception of one short visit, it had been 8 years since I've seen him. It was nice to see they are happy and doing good. Jenetta and Harley came over soon after. They brought Branson a flashlight with the sweetest card attached. He loves it and wants to play with it every night. She also brought me an angel and a precious card for it too. It means so much when people include Bryson in things, as she did in both cards. Valerie, Chandler, Peyton and McKenzie came over to visit also. It's always great to visit with them and see how much the kids have grown! I wish we could see each other more often.

Monday, Coit and I got up and took Branson to Brandon to Bass Pro Shop and pick up Mommy's Christmas present from Daddy. Branson loved BPS. His eyes stayed wide open the entire time. We came back and Scotty and his family had made it in from Georgia. Jessica and Reese came over. He is so precious and has grown so much. It's hard to believe he's walking, or that he'll be 1 in a few weeks. We had our family Christmas Monday night and it was fun, controlled chaos. The kids loved their gifts. The older kids, with the help of their mom and gan, made gingerbread houses later. Branson and Allie played good together and I loved every minute of watching them.

Tuesday, mom had a doctors appointment so she and dad had already left when we got up at 7:30. We packed and headed home. The time always flies by when we are home but we enjoy every minute. As we started taking our Christmas tree down Tuesday night, I couldn't help but think of all the memories and pray that the Lord will allow us to spend Christmas 2012 with the same, or more people, to not take anyone from us in the year ahead. I am so very blessed with a wonderful family.