Christmas 2014 Part 1

We've just returned from a full and BUSY two weeks back HOME and although we had a blast, I am beat!  Thus, the long overdue blog posts.  Due to my travel restrictions while on the transplant list, we haven't been able to return home since last year at the holidays.  (I did make a brief appearance over the summer when my nephew was born, but the entire time was spent at the hospital so I didn't see any of my friends)  As you can imagine, it was my mission to make up for lost time....and I think I did a pretty good job!  We had places to go and people to see every single day of our two week visit!  Some days I wondered what I had gotten myself into with all of the plans I had made but I pushed through and was able to see pretty much everyone I wanted to, with the exception of just a few.  Anyway, I will share more about our adventures around Tallahassee in a later post.  

Several weeks back I talked with my transplant team about the idea of being 10 hours away from them for two whole weeks.  They gave their blessings for me to go, but I had a few restrictions.  I was to be extra careful not to expose myself to sick people or germ-filled environments and I had to get weekly labs done so that they could monitor me from afar.  I followed all of their instructions and everything was fine!  That's not to say I wasn't a little nervous the whole time but I cannot live the rest of my life in a bubble.  I'm over it!

Christmas was extra special this year, for so many reasons.  It was my nephew Wyatt's very first Christmas which always makes things exciting.  It was also the first Christmas of my newer, healthier life and I couldn't help but just be thankful to be alive.  Not to sound dramatic, but really that thought was on my heart a lot over the holidays.  As always, I thought of my donor non-stop, knowing that some family out there was feeling the sting of their loss even more this time of year. 

We spent the first week of our trip in Georgia with Matthew's parents but hopped 30 minutes down the road to Tallahassee to spend Christmas Eve with my family.  This is how we've done it since Kelly and I got married and it works great for everyone.  We go to church with my parents, enjoy a delicious Christmas Eve dinner made by Mom and then we exchange gifts with each other.  

Kyndall is completely smitten over her new baby cousin!

Wyatt's gift from Kyndall....

A tricycle!

One of my favorite gifts this year!  Kelly and Michael gave this to me and I definitely did the UGLY cry when I saw it.  Here I am, ugly crying....

Kelly and Michael just bought a house so I made her this wreath for her door

Thanks, Jones family!!!  =)

My little budding photographer

Mom had these custom made for us!  LOVE!!!

And this too!  It's been said that I will monogram anything that doesn't run away from me.  It's true!

Every year my Mom gives each of us an ornament.  The ornament represents something significant that happened in our life that year.  (A new house, new baby, new milestone, etc)  This year's is my favorite ever!

Matthew's big gift from me was a "game camera".  It takes pictures of the deer as they walk by his stand....??  

The ONE gift that she specifically asked for this year was this My Little Pony castle.  We were worried it wouldn't make it in time but sure enough on Christmas Eve, the mailman saved the day with one final delivery!

In our family, Daddy gets the job of putting together the toys.  Mommy just doesn't have the patience!

We returned to Georgia late that night and quickly set out our milk and cookies for Santa

Next up, Christmas Day!