Back for the New Year!!
So, how was your Christmas? I hope it was filled with lovely memories and truly blessed. Ours was so wonderful and we were blessed to be able to share it with so many of our family members this year. It was so very good to see our family and some of our friends in Louisiana. I wish there was enough time to see everyone we dearly love, but even a week is truly not enough time to see everyone.
We left the Thursday afternoon before Christmas. That morning, we had our own version of “Express Christmas”. We exchanged gifts within our family and gave Tucker his presents, since he was staying with our dear friends in the neighborhood who keep him when we travel. We are so lucky he has a fun place to stay.
After our “Christmas Morning”, we loaded up the car and headed south. The last photo in the series above was taken at Lambert’s Throwed Rolls. This was the first time our travels had us there at the right time for a meal. Our first experience at Lambert’s was during the drive up to Missouri when we moved 4 summers ago. Just for grins, here’s what the kids looked like back then.
As we approached St. Louis, we ran into none other than Santa Claus riding down the interstate!
A little goodwill ride, on his bike? No sense in bothering the reindeer, right? Too funny!
That night we stopped in Jackson, MS so that the next morning we didn’t have but a few hours to get to our first stop in the Louisiana Christmas tour of 2011…an afternoon in Mandeville.
We had lunch with Emily’s godfather and his family. Good seafood and great visit. (I forgot to take a photo.)
Next we drove over to our old neighborhood and my friend Stephanie arranged a reunion with our “gang”. We reminisced about the great times we shared. Lots of laughs then and now. We all survived Katrina together and that changed our quaint little community and bonded us all a little tighter together.
The children sure have changed and grown! Here is a favorite photo of them nearly 6 years ago.
and now…
Then it was off to Baton Rouge, where we would spend the holiday happily shuffling back and forth between my Mom’s house and Richard’s Mom’s house. It is so nice to have them in the same city now. 🙂
Christmas morning Miles and Emily opened their “stockings”. We forgot to pack them so Santa filled shopping bags with their goodies. 🙂
We spent the first part of the day at my Mom’s and then back to the Davis’ for an evening Christmas dinner and opening of gifts. It was a great Christmas all around. Lots of smiles. 🙂
On Tuesday we drove to Morgan City, La to see my Dad’s family. Miles and Emily both enjoyed playing with their young cousins. Miles was wishing he could have the little car!
The final stop on the Louisiana Tour was West Monroe. Home of the Rebels (2011 high school football champions) and our friends the Kennedy’s. Dana, Emily and I enjoyed a little antiquing that afternoon and then joined the boys for pizza and frozen yogurt.
Whew! I should have given you a “long post ahead” warning. Thanks for hanging in there. It was a long trip and a really long ride home on Thursday. I easily gained 4 pounds on the trip. Lots of good southern cooking and most especially fresh seafood, always seem to go hand and hand with family and friends in the south. 🙂
Once we got home, it took us, or me really, a few days to regroup, get all the laundry done and get everything put away.
And then I got this crazy idea to make a big pot of pastalaya and have friends over for New Years! I’ll share more on that tomorrow. I’ve got to get myself to the trail to run off all the stuff I ate over Christmas!!
I have quite a few posts swimming around in my head…the last piece of furniture I did before the cold hit, some exciting GCD Studios news, and my winter mantle, so be sure to check back soon.
Loved having you here after Christmas!!! It's never long enough but we will take what we can get! Love the before and after of the kids!!! Time flies.