A Full Heart

I love Christmas for so many reasons. Although some people may disagree, I love how full the church gets around Christmastime. People coming home to be with their families or maybe people who feel the need to go to church and celebrate Jesus' birth; whatever the reason, it warms my heart.

I grew up in Marietta. I was an "East Cobb Snob" from the age of 2. At 18, my parents built a house in West Cobb. When John and I got engaged, we bought a  house in West Cobb. Most of my friends don't live in Marietta anymore. So Christmas means that they will be coming home and I always hope that I have a chance to visit with them. (We took Harper to a Walker Christmas Party and she was so well behaved. I think people wanted to see her more than they wanted to see me. I don't blame them.)

Christmas also means that my whole family gets together. It is often assumed that we all spend a great deal of time together because we all live so close (the furthest sibling being near Lenox.) Although I do spend a lot of time with my siblings and their families, it is not very often that we are all together in one place. I just love it.

Christmas Eve was so exciting. We went to the Children's Nativity Service and Harper loved it. She wanted everyone to know how much she loved it so she squealed as loud as she could. :) After church, we had dinner at Waffle House. We then hurried home, gave Harper a bath and to bed she went.

(L) Harper with Aunt Janice, (top) at Church, (bottom) Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was spent at our house. Harper opened -- chewed on -- her presents. The dogs ate their bones, and John and I exchanged a few gifts. After Harper's morning nap, we packed up and headed to my parents house (all of 5 miles away.) We all decided to have a breakfast buffet instead of a large meal and IT WAS AMAZING! Betsy's breakfast casserole, Dad's cheese grits, Keri's bread pudding, my sausage balls, Mom's biscuits and Kelly's fruit salad. We had a great time exchanging gifts and spending time together. Soon it was Harper's nap time, so we headed home. John and I had a little nap, too.

Christmas Day!

The next day we headed to Macon for the Clark family Christmas. It's great fun to have Harper spend time with Madison because they are just 2 weeks apart. Sweet Baylee is so good with the babies. We spent a few days in Macon, so we had a chance for Harper to spend time with her Great Grandmama and Grandaddy Mason. We also visited the graves of her Grandmama and Grandaddy Clark. If you know anything about John's mom and sister, Meagin, then you know they are bargain hunters. They inspired us to do a little early birthday shopping for Harper. Perhaps even a little early Christmas shopping? Let's see if I can wait that long!

with Great Grandmama and Grandaddy Mason.

I have so many ideas/plans for what we will do with Harper when she is more aware of Christmas. I am in no rush for her to grow up, but I intend on her knowing the true meaning of the season.