Flashback : A Christmas Tale

Disclaimer:

I do realize January has ended. And Christmas was in December. But hey, it's been busy. And for several reasons, it took a while to compile pictures from our Holiday ventures. But I wanted to document for posterity sake.

So a 'Flashback' To Caris' First Christmas:

We spent Christmas Day in Gonzales at Grandma Blundell's. We had a wonderful morning and Santa came to visit Caris! He brought her a swing for her tree :) So exciting! We had a special time with Caris on her first Christmas morning. We then had a traditional Christams lunch; Grandma Blundell cooks the BEST dinners!! It was a beautiful, relaxing day. And Caris got in a good Christmas nap (the best kind of nap :)

Ready for school with her new back-pack!

Daddy G gave his daughter her first cross necklace, beautiful sapphires. A very special gift :)

The Blundell crew

Christmas Eve, although unfortunately the majority was spent in the car, began and ended with visits from Santa. We woke up at JJ and Susies' to see a beautiful white Christmas blanket and found Caris's wagon and pony! So excited. Then Enter: Winter Wonderland.

When we arrived in Gonzales late that evening, we went to the Boysen's for Christmas Eve celebrations with the extended family. Lots of Aunties and cousins to love on Caris! Such a fun gathering of family to play with Caris to celebrate the season for the next several days.

When we arrived, Santa had left Caris a beautiful rocking chair to open Christmas Eve (He contracted with Grammy Jane to do the work :) Caris loved checking it out, even though she was pretty worn out from the days adventures, she was ready to play in her rocker! We spent the week spending time with family and taking trips to the country to soak in fresh air.

A few days later, Garrett's immediate family came to our home to celebrate our 'personal Christmas :)' Grammy Jane prepared a wonderful dinner and we had a great evening celebrating. Caris was definitely spoiled by her Aunts, Uncle, and Grandparents! It was a very fun night and good time to spend with everyone.

Mittens and gloves! So fun.
Ready to bake with Aunt Alli! Such a cute gift from Natalie :)

A few days prior to Christmas, we ventured down to Albany the to celebrate with the Jones clan. Festivities included a Chili Cook-off with local friends where Garrett's lobster chili debuted, Jones family 'skit night' where the Blundell's placed second with our rendition of 'All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth', and Wii tournaments. We had several beautiful dinners and spent many hours in the magic of Christmas.

Christmas participated in her inagural time honered Jones girl tradition and received Jammies from Grandpa JJ (with back-up by Susie :)

We loved getting to spend so much time with family!! We took advantage of the fact that we were able to travel this year and made sure to make the rounds to visit as many people as possible; as we aren't sure how often we will have another opportunity to have this much time off for the Holidays. It was a really wonderful way to celebrate Caris' First Christmas. Thank you to our families for making it so memorable :)