Christmas in Dixie

When Mike and I got married, we had to figure out what our Christmas traditions would be, where we would spend them, how long we'd be there, etc.  Over the past 10 Christmases, we have pretty much done the same thing, except for the year we spent it in Costa Rica with my parents.  We have spent the days up to Christmas morning with the Adams  in NC and then driven to GA to spend a few days with the Millers.  When we lived in NC, this was not too bad since we were so close to Mike's parents and only had to drive to GA.  Being in VA now, this year was a little different...and I anticipate the coming years to possibly be different as well with a new baby joining the mix.

We left on Friday to head down to NC and spent a good part of Saturday at the Mark Adams Holiday Classic.  Sunday included church with the family and a few visits with friends who live in Raleigh, then back to celebrate Christmas with Mike's immediate family, including dinner and presents.  Monday, we drove to Mike's grandmother's house about an hour away for Christmas lunch there and then back to Raleigh for the Christmas Eve service at our old church.  Yeah, it was a busy time but we fit it all in somehow!  

Then, on Christmas morning, we packed up and drove down to Adrian, GA to have lunch with the Millers and stayed on a few days there.  Our family graciously allows us and other family members to stay at the house that my dad grew up in (although it has been renovated now) on family land that includes a blueberry field and 5 (I think!) ponds and many acres of land.  We have such great memories of staying at the house that we called the "Camp House".  As I was explaining this house to friends, they had the weirdest look and questioned that it could be fun to stay there.  You see, it is a very simple house - with 2 bedrooms, 1 very small bathroom with a walk-in shower, a living room/kitchen area, a front porch and a back porch...and we've probably had 15+ stay in that same house on many occasions!  We love being together and even though there are other family houses close by to stay, we always want to be together at the camp house!  My aunt and I talked about the previous years and how in the mornings, you would have to step over people on beds, pallets, sofas, and sofa cushions just to get to the morning coffee pot!  But, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  We soak up every minute together and stay up WAY too late talking together. 

We love being able to stay there and since we have traveled with the dogs, it is a great place for us to let them roam and get plenty of energy out.  And, the boys always bring their guns for a little target practice and an occasional hunt. As kids, we would play our version of hide and go seek which we called "war".  It was always so scary to hide in the pitch dark in the woods so we would usually hide together with another cousin. 

Thursday afternoon, we drove over to Macon (about 1 1/2 hours away) to see MaMa, my grandmother, and my aunt and cousin.  As we visited, I got Mike to take a few pictures of us together.  Some of the pictures were just us talking and her showing me her flowers - pictures that would mean nothing to anyone else and will probably not get printed, but priceless to me!

On Friday afternoon, we packed up and headed back to Raleigh to begin our next adventure...New Year's 2013!