Hello? Is anyone out there? Oh, good... I was wondering if this thing still works. It's been a while!
Our snowy house on Christmas morning!
Our little family in the snow...kinda :)
Julip's first Christmas... it has already come and gone. We Jernigans tried to pack in as much fun and celebration as possible. We have so many pictures documenting the fun, but believe me, we don't have nearly enough! Thankfully, we were able to see so much of our family from both sides but definitely missed the ones we missed.
Christmas celebrating started as soon as we got our tree. We always buy our tree from the Young Life fundraser tree lot. We actually had to take it back to get it trimmed so it would fit in our bay window! We seriously had zero gifts under our tree until the day before Christmas when my family arrived. A week or two before Christmas we had a cookie swap at my dear friend Lisa's house. Lots of yummy sweets! I won prettiest cookie (somehow ha).
Bringing home our Christmas tree (for the second time)!
Our Christmas mantel... not very Christmasy!
Our little tree prior to ornaments and presents!
Our tree FULLY decked out in ornaments (some older than me!) and so many gifts!!!
Cookie swap girlies! Everyone is such a good baker! :)
All the lovely cookies! Mine are the ones on the red plate- Organic Pumpkin Spice cookies!
(they're really not that pretty!)
The weekend before Christmas we celebrated in Birmingham with Dustin's parents and had one of our Christmas dinners and opened too many gifts to count! Dustin and I opened double since Julip wasn't interested in the act of opening... only eating the tissue! But the highlights of gifts were electric toothbrushes, a galloping rocking horse, and wooden toys from Germany for little Jubie! She loves her horsey from Mimi and Bobo! Such a fun Christmas celebration!
LOOK at that sweet face! Somebody surely loves their Bobo!
Crawling to ducks Mimi bought from a German toy store!
Julip spent most of her time playing with the bows!
And her horse! :)
What a lucky little girl!
I know she'll be riding horsey very soon all by herself!
What a precious baby girl!
On Christmas Eve, Dustin and I both had responsibilities at church and went to both services. I sang and we read the advent reading as a family. Muttie, Paw Paw, Eric, Mimi, Bobo, Gran, and Susu all came and passed Julip up and down the pew keeping her entertained through the service! After that, we hurried home to go to sleep so we could wake up for Julip's FIRST Christmas morning!
Christmas Eve at church between the two services!
Mimi and her two boys!
Dustin and sweet Gran!
And low and behold a gift was waiting for us when we woke! We opened our curtains to a completely white world! Snow had fallen while we were sleeping and we experienced Huntsville's first first snow on Christmas day! What a gift!
I made whole wheat cinnamon rolls and we drank coffee and mimosas for our annual Christmas breakfast! My sneaky sweet husband broke our no-gift rule and bought me TWO pairs of boots to replace my holey ones, some pajamas to replace my ripped/holey ones, and some new perfume! Oh Dustin, you always treat me so good! He also opened his new wool sweater to replace the one I shrunk and new house-shoes to replace his holey/smelly ones! :)
Gran, Susu, Jubie, Dustin and I all piled in our VW and headed over to Muttie's house for our Christmas feast! And I have never seen such a feast! It was delicious...and I'm concerned for our future Christmas feasts when it'll be up to me to prepare such a meal! Whew! We opened so many gifts, especially for Julip! She got cute coats, hats, and gloves from Muttie and Aunt Tammy! Dustin got new shirts, sweaters, and bow ties and I got kitchen stuff!
Muttie putting the final touches on her feast!
And behold, the feast and king! :)
Susu and sweet little Jubie rocking her new boots!
Julibelle showing off her green eyes!
Doesn't Julip look like a little French baker?
She's not so sure of her sock monkey with the red behind.
Hanging out with her girlfriend, Aunt Tammy, and eating a spoon!
Opening up her Bobo's gifts... he didn't mind one bit!
Jubie and Mimi in front of Paw Paw and Muttie's tree!
Paw Paw's turn to open a gift!
Uncle Eric and Jubie and wooden spoons.
Gran getting some lovin from her Julibelle!
Our last string of celebrating began the next day when my brother and sister-in-love arrived from Colorado! We had not seen them since there wedding in May when Julip was only 3 months old! We opened gifts from everyone including awesome hand etched Pilsner glasses from Carter and Kim, forged feather rings from Uncle Billy, and a tricycle from Susu for Julip! Dustin also got a book from Davis and Anna called The Search for God and Guinness (which he highly recommends), a pipe from my mom, and I got the most amazing gift... A Brother sewing machine! My mother bought it for me knowing my passion for fabrics and handmade clothes, which is something we share! (footnote: this blog might turn into a sewing blog...jk)
We ended the celebration with Christmas dinner of chuck roast and carrots, scalloped potatoes, broccoli and toasted almonds, fresh cranberry sauce, and German chocolate cake- my biggest meal yet! Oh what a glorious Christmas!
Papa Bear in his chair observing the crazy family he married into!
Doesn't she look like Dustin?
Davis enjoyed seeing a bigger and more expressive little Julip from what he remembered!
My mom is convinced that Julip said, "HI!" as her first word!
Julip LOVES throwing her head back when you're holding her! Glad you had a hold of her shirt, Mom!
Family opening gifts and having fun!
Julip's new singing sea horse from Uncle Carter and Aunt Kim!
Julip's baby lamb from Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amy, Natalie and Abby!
Aunt Anna and Julip shopping... in the men's department?
The whole crazy bunch! (Thank you innocent, friendly bystander for snapping the picture!)
Dustin and I did some last minute buying and swapping after our house had returned to the three of us. Funny story, but I actually got another sewing machine from sweet Mimi we swapped it out for a rug from Antrhopologie I've been eyeing for a while now! With some Christmas money we got from Uncle Wayne, Dustin bought me a wallet (yes, my other one had a hole in it!), I got him another sweater and (drum roll) LOST Season 6!
This year is the first year I've really realized how much giving Christmas brings. So many people give! And they don't just give dinky inexpensive gifts but really nice, thoughtful gifts to cherish forever! It's pretty unbelievable! It is a reminder of God giving the most unbelievably valuable gift of a perfect Savior and his life he shed on the cross... One day we will celebrate in heaven and have the biggest party of them all with Jesus! Now that is something to celebrate!!!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
with love, xoxo
the Jernigans
2 comments:
Her Christmas socks are super cute. And I'm excited to see all of your sewing projects, maybe get some good inspiration.
I'm glad you guys had a great Christmas:)
That is one pretty baby. Congrats on all the happiness and more to come :)
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