Hollingsworth Heartbeat: Christmas 2012

Christmas is one of our favorite times of the year. We always enjoy our time with family in Georgia even though it involves alot of packing (too much packing according to Chuck) and a long drive. We learned our lesson about taking presents for the kids with us... there's no room in our car to bring it all back! So, we had an early Christmas with just the 5 of us before we left. We also were more intentional about our gift giving this year and had the kids make a list of a want, a need, a wear, a read. This was so helpful and better prepared all of us for the reason we celebrate, keeping in mind that our greatest gift is salvation through Jesus Christ.

Sportin' their new flatbill hats

Notice one has on a UGA hat and the other a Wolfpack hat! Trying to rep for a team in both states:)

Our intention Friday night was to have everything packed up and loaded so we could head out either really late (so the kids would sleep) or really early (so the kids would sleep). Do you see what we were trying to do here?! Anyway, we went to eat and stop by Wal Mart and by the time we were done I felt nauseated and my head was killing me... most of you know I get terrible migraines. Sometimes they put me to bed, totally unable to function. This soon became one of those times. And since I was down for the count, most everything came to a halt. I dozed off for a while on the couch during early evening and finally got some relief around 11pm and was able to sleep more soundly. I woke up around 2:45am and since I felt better, I jumped up to get dressed, clean the kitchen, and finish more packing. Chuck woke up soon after and we were on the road to Georgia around 4:20am.

The wee hours of the morning are the best to travel. No one is on the road so travel time decreases! We made it to Savannah around 9am and stopped for a quick breakfast. When we realized that we'd make it to Wilcox County around lunchtime we decided we could stop at the Walker family Christmas lunch (my Mom's side of the family). We had forgotten that they were gathering that day and typically aren't able to be there. Although we looked like total bums who'd obviously been traveling all day, we decided we'd stop so we could see aunts, uncles, and cousins that are only in town a couple times a year. We did have a quick wardrobe change in the Sonic restroom before we arrived:) You do what you gotta do! And, who wants to show up at a family gathering in their pj's?

Just before gifts... a little trivia time from the Professor:)

Our sweet Pepapa Walker

After leaving the Walker Christmas, we headed to Chuck's parents house for dinner with Adam and Penny before they headed back to Florida. We worshipped at our home church on Sunday morning and unfortunately the afternoon consisted of a hospital visit to see my Memama Futch who was in ICU. The Futch family (my Dad's side) always gets together on Christmas Eve. Because Memama was in the hospital, my aunt Debbie and uncle Ed hosted the meal. We had a huge spread of food and the kids loved every minute at their home. They live outside of town and have a huge display of Christmas lights outside and the inside of their house is full of Christmas fun. Not to mention, they own 12 miniature ponies that the kids were fascinated with. It was so nice to spend time at their house but we were sad to see the declining health of our grandparents.

Noah, enjoying the view

This painting was given to Pepapa Futch. Here he is telling Scott all about the farm!

We took a little detour outside of town to see some more Christmas lights at the Eason's home. I think they add something new to their Christmas decor every year... most of it is hand painted!

It's never easy to get kids to bed on Christmas Eve. And because we weren't at home, it was a little more difficult to settle everyone down.

Finally, Christmas morning came and we were excited to share that time with Chuck's parents this year. The kids opened their gifts from them and we followed in tradition and had lunch with my Mom and sisters.