Final Christmas of the Season

Christmas is a feeling that lives in your heart....hopefully we can all keep those feelings of love, giving, charity, and the wonder of the birth of a baby who came to save us in our hearts all year long.

That said - we celebrated our final family Christmas celebration yesterday.

This was the annual Beeler family celebration - Mike's grandma's Christmas.  Have I mentioned how stinking lucky my children are to have FOUR great grandmothers and one great grandfather that they all know and love and can call by name?  Seriously.  Blessed.

Here is the matriarch of the family...Grandma Betty.  

She is adored by many, including our family.  She celebrated her 90th birthday this September and you can still catch her with my children on her lap (until a couple of weeks ago when she slightly fractured her back ... that does put a crimp in hauling grandkids onto your lap).

The day was blessed with gift giving, loving on one another, good conversation, children playing like angels (seriously), and enjoying a time of being together.

These boys realized yesterday that they could play together.  They've never been unkind to each other really, just kind of indifferent.  Yesterday was AWESOME to watch them run and play and giggle and bond!  They are 2nd cousins (our Xavier's and Mike's cousin's son) - born the exact same day & year, only an hour apart from each other. 

 

We have a pair of saucy spanks that get passed around as a gag gift from person to person...Aunt Boots got them this year. ;)

We draw names so each person buys gifts for one other family member.  We employed my sister at the crafty cAve to make a Big Foot shirt for our brother-in-law Miguel.  He has an obsession with the show on TV!  He also got a TX Longhorns money clip/billfold thing (my descriptions are killer, I know).

The Beeler's are really good about taking sit down pictures every year.  While sometimes it seems like a hassle I know it's a good thing to capture these memories through the years.

They look like they are in pain, huh?

The four great-grandkids (soon to be at least 6!)

Getting ready to take a pic with the great grands and Gma Betty and I see my son - leaning into his Great Gma, just loving her for all he's worth.  He tried to sit on her lap but I told him no on account of her back fracture.  I love the way this boy loves.

 Grandma Betty and her kids

Mike's Aunt Boots and Uncle Bob

Grandma Betty & her grandkids

The grands + spouses...you can't see our tummies but the gal in white and I are both expecting!

 Natalee looks stressed!

The boys were fairly "anti-picture" and then when we are done I turn around to see them staging this pic all on their own. 

 Mike's folks, sister & husband & our family of 4

I left this Christmas gathering before supper to attend a Favorite Things party at my sister's.  Since about 3-4 p.m. on I'd had what I assumed to be a "pregnancy tummy ache".  I got to Andrea's, sat for about 30 minutes and realized it was so much more.  Since Mike had dropped me off I had to ask my mommy to take me home.  It's amazing what your body can fight when you have to...when I walked in the door at home I immediately climbed the stairs to the master bathroom where I proceeded to have "flu like symptoms" for the next 2 hours.  I took a hot bath, made it to the couch, and am still there this evening!  Blessed to have a hubby who picks up the slack when mom is out of commission.