Christmas Part 2: Atlanta

We spent the end of the month with my family, celebrating Christmas together a week afterwards.  It was a fun weekend together... 

 

and we got some good family photos.

Clara got lots of attention, being the youngest,

 

and she got to meet her Great-Uncle Dick. 

Carlton powered up for the present-opening extravaganza with his morning smoothie. 

The kids being their funny selves...

Amidst all the busyness, Clara figured out how to keep chewing on Sophie and at the same time grab both of her feet, which seemed to make her quite happy with herself :)

Christmas Part 1: Wilmington

We spent the week of Christmas in Wilmington with Mark's parents and brother's family.  With mild, beautiful weather, we got to spend a morning on the beach - always a treat.  Clara got her first taste of sand and sea!  Carlton was a bit picky about the sand, but still had a good time.

And cousins Laila, Paul and Iris loved them some beach time.

Back at the house, we had a lot of wonderful times (around several of us being sick!) - but Christmas present time was especially camera-worthy, of course.

Clara's first Christmas.....I think she loved the excitement, all the people and energy.

The only formal shot we got was of the grandkids with Grandma Ann and Papa (I was sick in bed when this shot was taken, so we never got photos of the rest of the adults!)

Other moments

A couple of other fun moments this month that I almost forgot.....

While at the mall riding the Pink Pig, Carlton found something that was even more exciting - riding the escalator! 

One other sweet holiday celebration was with Emily and her girls, at their Happy Birthday Jesus party.  Crafts, food, friends.  We had a blast.

Hutchins Family holiday time

My dad's family gets together to celebrate about a week before Christmas every year.  It's always a loud, fun time with aunts, uncles, cousins everywhere.  Here's Clara enjoying some time with one of her great-aunts and two of her second cousins. 

The highlight of the day for Carlton (and for most of the children) was the arrival of my cousin's husband who is a firefighter....and his truck!  There was much delight as the kids got to explore. 

When the truck finally had to leave, Carlton was still happy to keep exploring other vehicles :)

Festive outings

We had a couple of very fun Christmas outings this month, both with our good friends, the Grosses.  Emily and I and both of our mothers took all the kids down to ride the Pink Pig at Lenox.  It's an Atlanta tradition that is only around at the holidays, and both Em and I used to ride on it as kids.  I was pretty excited to take Carlton, as trains are a big fascination, and sure enough, he loved it! 

And then on the weekend Em, Jake, Mark and I took all the kids to Atlantic Station to see the "snow" they do nightly during the holidays.  Though the fake snow was rather underwhelming, the whole scene was fun, with a giant tree, Santa Claus, a North Pole train of sorts, and lots of holiday ambiance.  And the little ones loved just running around, of course :)