Christmas 2014 and One Big Surprise!

Well another Christmas in the books and I'm sad to see it go.

I always get the "Christmas Blues" as my mom calls it - when you get sad when it's over.

I love every little thing about Christmas and it always goes by so quickly, but on to a New Year and time to decorate our home with pinks, reds and whites for Valentine's. I do truly enjoy Valentine's decor. It's so sweet and Cadence adores it.

I truly have the World's Best Boss because I get a whole lot of time off for Christmas.

I worked a few hours on Tuesday and didn't have to come back into work until today, again, only for a few hours then I'm off until next Monday for the New Year's holiday. Essentially it's like having two weeks off and you will find no complaints here! I've enjoyed the time spent home with Cadence. We went to Savannah one day and Beaufort yesterday and she loves having what she calls "girl day". Not girls day out, just girl day. Love her! 

Onto Christmas...

Christmas Eve we woke up to find Olly had left us a scavenger hunt for his last day in South Carolina. All the clues left for one last gift for Cadence and she had so much fun finding the next clue. It was a special time at 6 in the morning :) She's definitely an early riser!

He didn't take a Selfie - he took an Elfie 

This picture cracks me up every single time - Rosie was sleeping and Cadence wasn't having it.

Olly brought Cadence these Christmas jammies for her to wear on Christmas Eve as well as some Elsa and Anna coloring posters. She loved them.

Leaving cookies & milk for Santa!

Christmas Eve day my parents told us to come over to their house. We didn't know what was going on so we ran over and there was my 13 year old gun that I haven't seen since. Long story short. When I was 13, that Christmas, my parents gave me my very first gun. I wanted it painted camouflage so dad took it to the guy and we haven't seen it since. Between mis-communication, timing and a lot of other stuff the guy totally forgot he had it and as time passed so did we. Well dad remembered after all these years and got my gun back, finally painted. We joked that it was a 13 year paint job but I'll tell you it was the most sentimental gift I could have ever received from them and I couldn't believe it. I was so happy that he took all that time to be persistent and call the guy non-stop to finally get my gun back. 

After I admired my "new" gun we went back home and made a lot of treats, some for family, some for Santa and admired our Christmas tree one last time while sipping on some hot chocolate.

(I always take our tree down on Christmas Day - I am a little OCD about holiday decorations being up after the holiday has passed. There's always time between Tarl's parents Christmas and my parents Christmas so while we're relaxing at home I take it down then.)

After we fell asleep, Santa came and boy did he bring a lot of toys!

She was very excited to see this big ole stack of wrapped presents.

She was very grateful for everything that she received on Christmas, but her most favorite was definitely her Elsa dress and her Beados set. Surprisingly those Beados are a lot of fun to make and actually work. Her Easy Bake Oven was another huge hit and we've already made a batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I got Tarl a lot of hunting equipment that he had been wanting and a few sentimental gifts that I knew he would like but he definitely outdid himself this year with my gift and to say I was surprised couldn't be more true!

I opened my first gift which was a beanie/scarf set that I had asked for. Then I opened my next gift which was a neck pillow. I looked at him like "what in the hell?" but was still grateful...just wasn't sure what I needed a neck pillow for. He then let me open the big box which was a Keurig. We both had been wanting one and I was happy that we finally had a one cup coffee maker.

The last gift was a tiny little box with some handmade art...

It took me a minute but I finally figured it out - JetBlue & Times Square. My sweet husband booked us a trip to New York. After all these years of talking about it and dreaming about it and pinning away hundreds of things on Pinterest he is finally taking me. He booked our trip for the end of March to give it some time to warm up a little and we're going for four days. We're staying in Times Square and I cannot wait! I was beyond happy and tears were streaming down my face. Tarl, although very sweet and kind, isn't the best at doing surprises so this was just unbelievable!

After we spent time with his parents we headed on over to my parents and another big surprise was waiting from my dad, another gun that I've been wanting for a long time. 

My dad has this same exact gun and I shoot it all the time. He decided it was time for me to finally have my own and I was ecstatic.

My siblings and the spouses draw names and this year my brothers girlfriend (who is practically my sister-in-law) drew my name and got me such a beautiful door hanger.

We all got some great gifts this year, but Christmas isn't about presents underneath the tree. It's about Jesus and time spent with family which was wonderful. 

Since I have the rest of the week off, like always I will be taking a blogging break to spend that time with family not worrying about being in front of a computer. 

I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and has a blessed New Year. 

See you on Monday!