Christmas...via the entire Southeast

Christmas has come and gone, presents have been opened and enjoyed, and as of this weekend the last of our Christmas decorations have been stored for yet another year. (As a side note, am I the only one that finds it somewhat depressing to put away the Christmas decorations? I would honestly leave them up all year long if that were socially acceptable.) So, although I've been just a little on the sad side this weekend taking down the cute Christmas picture frames, candles, dishtowels, and anything else you could possibly imagine, I'm very excited about the year ahead of us. I think there are lots of great things in store for us, and I'm anxious to see how the year unfolds.

Hunter and I were both very fortunate with getting several days off around Christmas, which makes it much easier to be able to spend time with both of our families over the long weekend. On Thursday the 23rd, we made the trip west to Birmingham to participate in the first family function- dinner and dirty santa with Hunter's mom's side of the family.



Sweet little Caroline

 

Mrs. Shepherd always has the most beautiful table scapes. Maybe one day I'll be able to learn a few of her decorating skills!

Christmas morning, I was the first one to wake up so I headed downstairs to enjoy a little of this:

And I looked outside and saw this:

Being originally from Kentucky, this is not the first "white Christmas" I've ever seen in my life. I haven't seen a lot, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have seen a few. However, my years living in Alabama are more than those living in Kentucky, and this is the first Alabama white Christmas I've ever seen. It was just so serene and peaceful to watch this come down in the early hours of the morning, and it was such an incredible reminder of God's beautiful earth. If this didn't get you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know if anything would.

 

Caroline and her Nonny

One of the Shepherd traditions is for Mr. Shepherd to read a devotion to the family before they open gifts. I think that is a wonderful way to keep in mind the real reason behind all of the fun stuff, and it is one that Hunter and I definitely want to pass on.

 

After all the presents at the Shepherds are opened, they head over to Grandmom and Granbob's house for brunch and more gifts. It was so yummy!

The Shepherd men and their little sweetheart.

This was honestly one of my favorite gifts ever. This was a gift from Grandmom and Grandbob that they found on a trip to Calloway Gardens this year. One of my goals for Hunter and I is to start collecting sentimental ornaments, and this was the perfect way to start our collection, because Hunter proposed to me in a hot air balloon!

When we returned to the Shepherds later that afternoon, the snow had finally started sticking, and their house looked so beautiful!

Even Sage got in on the snow action.

 

On the afternoon of the 26th, we headed north to see my family in Kentucky. We were a little worried about the road conditions considering how much snow had fallen in Birmingham, but thankfully the roads were clear and we made it without and huge problems. Always a blessing during the holiday season! We went straight to my Grandaddy's as soon as we got to Kentucky, where my family was waiting for us to arrive before we had our traditional Christmas dinner. We definitely don't go hungry between our families, especially during the holidays!

But before we started dinner, Hunter and I were informed that we had a "special gift" waiting for us in the living room that needed to be opened.

Of course it was Israel and Sarah-Grace, who apparently had been hiding in that box- together- for the past 30 minutes, just waiting for "Rah-Rah and Hunta" to get to Grandaddy's. Silly kids.

Israel was just a little excited about his walkie-talkies. He had the great idea that Hunter could take one back to Atlanta so they could talk whenever they wanted to.

 Apparently Tucker wanted to be in on the action as well.

 Oh Sarah-Grace. She L-O-V-E-S her baby brother, and loves to pick him up even though she has been told multiple times not to. Jonathan, on the other hand, is not as amused.