Two Christmas in One

This was the first year as a married couple that Mike and I had to manage two Christmases in one day. Not too hard of a feat once Michael got some time off from work!  The 2 weeks before Christmas, he had worked from 5:00 a.m til atleast 2:00 p.m. every day except for that Sunday!!

Christmas Eve day, I woke up and started baking.  I baked a pecan (it was my first time, ever!) a pumpkin, and a cheesecake.  The funny part is that we all forgot about them that night and didn't eat any of them until the next day!  But they all turned out very yummy but I decided I needed a new pecan recipe.  I might ask my mother-in-law for hers, because hers it always amazing.  

That night, Andy and Jen and their adorable kids came over and we had a HUGE dinner.  We had baked and fried turkey, when we should have only had the 23 lb baked turkey.  That bird was huge.  We also had green bean casserole (my favorite), mashed potatoes, funeral potates (why they call them that, I still don't know), corn, gravy, stuffing and black olives.  We still have tons of leftovers and its been 3 days!  

Later that night, we all "dressed-up", if you could call it that, and acted out the nativity scene.  I think the girls did an amazing job!  Here are some of the pics.

Michael was Joseph, Claire was Mary, Jen was a Shepard and Charlotte was a sheep :D

Charlotte and Claire both stuffed pillows in their shirts to make them look

a: lumpy

b: pregnant

Charlotte was having a blast.  She is such a camera hog!  ;)

Christmas morning was a blast.  I was amazingly blessed with gifts and my family loved their gifts.  We ate breakfast together as a family and then Mike and I packed to go and visit his family for a couple of days.

While down in Bay City, we were able to spend time with Mike's whole family, including my two adorable nephews!  They are two totally different people and yet I love them to death.  As soon as we got to my in-laws, we opened present.  I got spoiled!  I never expected so much from them and I loved ALL my gifts.  My most favorite has got to be some earrings that my hubby and his mom made from pearls he had gotten in Tahiti.  I'll have pictures up soon!  :D

We stayed 2 days with my in-laws.  We just enjoyed spending a lot of time together.  We played Ticket to Ride, went to the gun range, and played with the little boys.  We are planning on going back sometime this week to spend a little more time with the family.  

I am SOOO sad that I didn't think to take my camera with me at all this holiday!  :(  Luckily we did take family pics with the in-laws so those should be up soon too!  

I am so greatful for the reason for the holiday season and the time I have had to spend with my family.  Too bad real life is about to start back up again.