The Brink Bunch: Here Comes Santa Claus...

Christmas has come and gone... and what a wonderful Christmas holiday it was! The best Christmas morning I've had since we became parents, assuming the role of Santa. Our holiday began Friday, on Christmas Eve Eve when I woke up that morning. Jamie and I have always exchanged our gifts to one another on this particular day, since Christmas Eve and morning are so busy. I was very surprised to be the recipient of any gifts from him since we had agreed that instead of buying gifts for one another, we would try to purchase tickets for the National Championship game and take a trip to New Orleans after the New Year. But Jamie enjoys surprising me with gifts just as much as I love being the recipient of a surprise! He definitely accomplished his goal and I was thrilled to receive an iPad and a gift certificate to the Spa at the Marriott. That evening we went to my parents house to exchange gifts with my family. This was something new that we don't normally do but decided to do since Christmas fell on Sunday and we would be pushed for time trying to get ready for church (as well as eat a family breakfast and let the boys play with their gifts). It was fun extending the holiday into one extra day than normal!

Saturday morning, Christmas Eve, we were at my grandmother's house at 9am for a delicious, although slightly chaotic breakfast with all 40 members of my immediate family. My dad has 5 brothers and sisters, who are all married, with kids of their own (my 11 cousins, plus me and Lindsay), 6 out of the 13 cousins are now married and combined we have 7 kids (my grandmother's great grandchildren).  And yes, that's 40 people in one rather small house. However, I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy all the commotion, conversations, and laughter. Plus there's so many people to help entertain and love on my boys that I can enjoy family time as well! Following breakfast, the kids opened their gifts. It was quite a sight, with the 7 great grandchildren excitedly ripping through the bows and wrapping paper to get the presents inside. My boys equally racked up with plenty of toys to last us for the next year. After the kids were finished, the adults playing a rousing rendition of Dirty Santa and a yummy lunch of appetizers and dips was served. One of my very favorite childhood memories is spending Christmas Eve at my MawMaw Powell's house with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles. Of course, our already large family has grown considerable since I was a kid, but that just creates for more fun! We left shortly after noon so that the boys could get in a good nap before our next stop in the Christmas Eve rounds.

Once the boys were good and rested, we all headed to my in-laws house for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. One fun thing that my mother-in-law Debbie still does, despite the fact that we are all in our late twenties and early thirties is "The Mouse" game. Its a calendar with a pocket for each day during leading up to Christmas, that hangs on her kitchen wall during December. Each day of the month, the little stuffed mouse makes his way towards the pocket with 25 on it (Christmas Day). Debbie slips money in the pocket that corresponds with each day and the boys will all race to their parent's house each morning to see who wins "the mouse". Some mornings it may just be a $1, sometimes $10. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, the money in the mouse is a larger bill, such as a $20 and they frequently replenish the money throughout those two days. It's become a pretty competitive game that we all enjoy on Christmas Eve and whoever wins the mouse, wins bragging rights, as well. Yes, we sound like kids, but it is fun, and who refuses money?! When we pulled up to their house on Saturday afternoon, it hit me immediately that we were the first to arrive! I didn't say a word and as soon as Jamie put the car in park, I JUMPED out and ran in the house, winning the first $20 of the night!  Everyone thought it was hilarious, that I literally jumped out of the car and ditched Jamie and the kids to win a $20 bill! Throughout the evening, Jamie won $15 and Haley and Wes won $20 a piece. See what I mean, it's quite a nice bit of money at stake. And there's no rule that you can only win one time (a couple of years ago, I scored $60!) It doesn't necessarily go with the significance of what Christmas is all about, but it is pretty funny to see 6 adults run towards that calendar trying to be the first to get to th money. It's a Brink tradition that provides us with alot of laughs... like when Jamie whispered to Haley, "you should go check the mouse" and she takes off running only to find that he had put a whooping 35 cents in there!

We enjoyed delicious steaks, along with a few casseroles and side dishes to compliment. And WHO can forget all of the desserts and candies? YUM. Following dinner, we all exchanged gifts with one another and took our slew of pictures around the tree. The kids had fun playing together and running wild but after the busy past few days, they wore down quickly. Around 8 we packed everything up and headed home to put our boys to bed.

In the past we have tried to read The Night Before Christmas as well as the story of Jesus's birth to the kids before they settled in to bed, however we stayed out too late to do so this year. The kids had fallen asleep in the car so we took them straight to bed, assembled Santa's goodies, and settled in for our long winter's nap. The following morning, Jamie and I woke at 7:45am since my parents, Lindsay and Derrick were coming over to see the boys' reactions to their gifts from the jolly 'ol guy. We ended up having to wake them up at 9. I brought Collier in, while Jamie helped Noah. The looks of excitement on their faces was priceless. Noah was thrilled to see his brand new realistic choo choo train circling it's track and blowing it's horn. Collier seemed taken back by it all but loved waking up to the whole family in the den. He would check out a gift, then crawl up on the couch to sit with my dad or Derrick. Then a while later, get back down to check something else out. After both boys played for a little bit, we enjoyed Coffee Cake and a breakfast casserole, then my parents, Lindsay and Derrick left for church. We decided to stay at home so the kids could play and nap before we had to be back at my parents later that afternoon.

We met back up with my family at my mom and dad's house for our traditional Christmas lunch of turkey and dressing, gravy, broccoli cheese casserole, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, green beans, rolls. It was delicious. We ate so much that not a single one of us cut a slice of the Spice Cake we had all requested my mom to make! Fortunately, I remembered to take some home because Spice Cake is delicious for breakfast in the morning. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at my parents house and enjoying each other's company until well in the evening as our Christmas Day was coming to an end. We had a wonderful Christmas spending time with the ones we love, enjoying food, conversation and each other's company, but what's even better is to experience the wonderment of Christmas through the eyes of your children. There's nothing like that magic and excitement! It was a breath of fresh air after the difficult past year we've had in watching my dad fight his battle with cancer, losing Jamie's uncle Freddie in April, then his grandfather Papa Jim in July.  Circumstances such as those really makes you grateful and appreciative of these treasured times together as a family.  The memories from our Christmas of 2011 will last me a lifetime.