"Four Christmases"

The babies' first Christmas was fourfold! They celebrated thrice on Christmas Eve and once on Christmas Day. Unless you also count the time we spent with just our family of four, which would make the grand total FIVE Christmases! My oh my. Here's a recap of the craziness and joy that was the babies' first celebration of Jesus's birthday:

First we celebrated at the home of my sweet grandparents, Ben and Lily Higginbotham. Though they're well into their eighties, they can still host a full house for the holidays (or any time!). Joining us was a ton of my family: Uncle Russell, Aunt Diane, Uncle Jude, Aunt Patty (and baby #2 on the way), cousin Peyton, Aunt Mary, Jaret, Uncle Benji, and Mary. Then our family of 4 plus the grandparents made for a grand total of 15. LOVE when that much family gathers! Always very special. And I got some really special pics of the boys with their great-grandparents:

<3

We ate and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore. Turkey, greenbean casserole, lima beans, seafood etouffee, and the meal wouldn't have been complete without Aunt Diane's sweet potato casserole and homemade candies!

Next for the day was Ellen's family: Dee, Monica, Steve, Jacob, Dad, Ellen, Cathy, Gavin, Mason, Mary, and the four of us, of course. Dee might have one of the most Christmas-y houses I've seen! Every little corner was decked out, and her tree was gorgeous! It made us all feel really cozy and festive :) More food was available for munching there, but we had mostly had our fill!

Baby's first Christmas is rough, huh Asher man??

 Asher with Papa Noel (my dad in disguise)

 Eli being silly with Dad

 Our family modeling with Dee's cute tree

Third and final stop on our Christmas Eve journey with 7 month old twins would be Dan's parent's house. It was after dark at this point, but the boys were still in good spirits despite the long day so far. After some classic pics with their tree, we moved on to opening gifts. This is when the boys got really spoiled. Of course, they were mostly only interested in wrapping paper and boxes, but us parents know they got some very entertaining toys that should last them to their first birthday and beyond! Woot!

Photo-Op with the grandparents + tree

 Our fam + tree

 Eli opening his first gift

 Asher says, "Is this one for me?"

 Dad helping out

 Mom's turn

Eli trying out his new xylophone- FUN!

After the gift opening and dessert was over, we headed home for some much needed rest! The next day was the babies' first visit from Santa and a trip to my mom's house to have a family meal with Mom, Chip, and my sisters and their families. I'll have a post following this one sharing our Christmas morning with y'all.



Hope y'all's Christmases were merry and bright!

Love,

The Hembree clan

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11