Christmas in Texas- Part 2

Christmas Day we drove to Midlothian to celebrate with my extended family. We used to all live within a 10 mile radius of each other, and growing up I so took that for granted. Now that we are all separated, I realize how great we had it. It's rare that we are all together now at the same time, so I cherish Christmas Day with them. With Nana as the Grand Matriarch, we of course had a meal that was to die for. After lunch, we all gathered in the den to open presents, and it was a mad house. There are so many of us that it would take far too long to open presents one at a time, so it is a free for all. It's organized chaos at it's finest, but we love it. Here are a few pictures from another amazing Christmas with wonderful people!

My wonderful Dad and me! I did pretty well keeping it together during all of the goodbyes over the break, but I couldn't help crying when I hugged my Dad goodbye on Christmas Day.

Sweet cousin Amanda!

Cousins! Absolutely adore them :)

Nana and Jenny watching the present opening frenzy

Nana and me!

Parker and I headed to Plano around 4:00. The weather was starting to get pretty bad, and we didn't want to prolong the drive anymore. By the time we arrived in Plano around 5:00, this is what we were greeted with!

The Phelps house on a white Christmas!

We got to spend the second half of our break in Plano, and it was perfect. I have said this a lot, but I really did hit the in-law jackpot. Tim, Leigh, and Breanna could not be more perfect, and I am blessed to be in their family. We celebrated Christmas that night and all opened presents together! It was so sweet! We started a tradition this year as a family that I hope to continue in the years to come. We were all given $30 to bless someone this Christmas, and we all shared how we used the money on Christmas night. I loved that part :).

Sweet sister!

Father/Son love

Parker and his mom!

This has become another little family tradition. Matching pajamas for the girls two years in a row!

Our little family on Christmas night

Our gift to Leigh! A personalized calendar with everyone's pictures and birthdays :)

That next morning Bree flew to Midland to spend time with her boyfriend, Marshall. We were bummed we weren't going to get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked, but I was also so excited for her. I remember how much I couldn't wait to go see Parker during Christmas when we were dating. We spent the next five days vegging out and just enjoying time together! Here is a rundown of the highlights:

• Saw Parental Guidance in theaters- it was cute!
• Tim and Parker took a concealed carrying class one night, so Leigh and I went for sushi and a movie- my kind of date! We saw Pitch Perfect, and it was pure gold. I seriously could not stop laughing. It got to the point where it was inappropriate because everyone else in the theater stopped laughing after a normal amount of time, but I couldn't help it. I loved it!
• My family stayed in Midlothian a couple of days after Christmas, so we met them for lunch to see my mom and sisters one last time before they drove back to The Woodlands. 

Ladies!

Parker gave Grandaddy a shirt with his squadron emblem on it, and Grandaddy loved it! Grandaddy is a jack of all trades and has 120 flight hours, so he has loved following Parker's progress in flight school.

• We met Nellie and Daddy Pete for lunch since we didn't get to see them Christmas night due to the weather. I forgot to take pictures :(
• We met  Ma and PaPa for lunch since we hadn't gotten to see them either.

Tim and Leigh with Tim's parents

Husband love!

Phelps ladies!

• Leigh and I drove up to Stanley Korshak where Nana works to return the boots she let me borrow. Nana has the best fashion sense of anyone I know, so I try to borrow her clothes as much as possible. I loved seeing her and meeting her work friends I had never met. I could go on and on about Nana and will do a separate post about her in the near future because I want to illustrate why she is such a role model in my life. Loved seeing her again and miss her already! 

Nana and me :)

I loved spending a week with these wonderful people! We drove back home New Years Day and just reflected on the break in its entirety. 10 whole days gave us time to really enjoy each of our families, and we just feel blessed. It was a wonderful Christmas and one for the books!