Ho Ho Holidays!

I love christmas! I love the food, I love spending quality time with my family, and I love decorations. I love everything about christmas. Mark and I went down to Mobile to celebrate christmas in my parent's home. My sister's family came as well. We all had a fantastic time. I think me and my niece were the most excited. My absolute favorite thing about christmas is to see the reactions on my family's faces when they open their gifts. My niece's reaction was perfect! Per my sister's suggestion, I bought Emory some new Disney Princess and Fancy Nancy underwear. Then I found some very cute socks that were brightly colored and had the days of the week on them. I then had a sudden realization, I am THAT aunt! I am that aunt that gives underwear and socks as presents! I do not want to be THAT aunt! Even though my sister told me that Emory wants those items and that she would be overjoyed when she opened her present, I had to get her something fun. I went to look for a coloring book and found a Disney Princess coloring/sticker book. I knew Emory would like it because I loved it! I almost got one for myself. :) When she opened her present, she did like the underwear, she liked the socks more because there was a purple pair (her new favorite color), but when she pulled the coloring/sticker book out of her bag, her face lit up and she immediately started chattering about a friend of hers who had one and she wished that she had one just like it! Needless to say I was elated because she loved her gift.

Mark and I drove down to Mobile on the backroads from T-town. It was actually a very pleasant drive. We drove through the boonies of Alabama. We saw Catfish farms, horses, cows, and two donkeys. We also were fortunate to pass by not one but 2 paper mills. Childhood memories came flooding back to me as I breathed in their putrid stink. My dad worked in Sylacauga and sometimes Mom would drive us kids down there to visit him at the hospital. On our way, we had to pass through Childersburg where a papermill resided. All of us kids would hold our noses and breathe through our mouths. Good times!

Now we look forward to New Year's and resolutions!