Christmas Fun

We are continuing to play catch-up on the ol' Ussery blog so let's carry on shall we?

These pictures are a smorgasbord from Christmas - they illustrate some of the fun we had between Thanksgiving and Christmas during the season.

Parker and I made a paper chain to countdown to Christmas.  We actually have a couple of different countdowns, but this was fun to make.

What a cute little reindeer we had running around the house!

 

Parker had some cute holiday duds, so we tried to wear them as much as possible.

 

Here's Parker last Christmas (Christmas 2013) wearing the same outfit as above -growing boy!

Parker had fun helping me go to the post office to mail all of our Christmas cards.  We sent over 100 to 11 different states and even one overseas. 

 

For an early Christmas treat, Mamaw (my Mom) sent Parker a Build-a-Bear gift card so we took Parker one Saturday and he made Rudolph.  His nose even glows - it was a fun morning (thanks Mamaw)!

We had some new neighbors move in next door to us a couple of weeks before Christmas.  When you are new to the neighborhood, you get homemade chocolate chip cookies from the Usserys.  Parker helped me make them after church one Sunday. He loves to help me bake - sweet times!

Speaking of baking, we made sugar cookies.  We had a lot of fun making the dough, cutting it into shapes, baking and decorating.  It made a beautiful mess.  This will become a yearly tradition! 

The week of Christmas, we made some goodies and divided them up between all of our neighbors.  We included our Christmas card and letter in the sacks.  The weather was pretty yucky on delivery day, but we enjoyed spreading a little holiday cheer!   

The weekend before Christmas, my Dad and step-mom, Kristin (aka Granny and Grandpa) came for a visit.

They got Parker a new Thomas the Train set so Grandpa helped Daddy get it put together - he loves it! 

We had fun on the Saturday morning they were here (hence our pajamas).  We had coffee cake for breakfast (my Grandpa's recipe - my Dad's Dad) and opened gifts from each other.  We took lots of pictures, but I am just sharing a few highlights.  

That evening my step-brother Neil and his family came over for a little family Christmas party.  We ate various snacks and played some fun games - it was a great night.

Parker with his cousins - Seth and Alyssa.

My Dad and I doing a little cooking for the evening.

Parker's favorite gift was a stuffed animal cat that looks just like Granny and Grandpa's cat Madeleine.  He adores her so this gift was a hit! 

I'm sure I missed a few pictures, but these hit a few of the highs throughout the Christmas season.  Next up, we will document Christmas Day at home and then hopefully get on track with things currently going on around here.  Although I'm still having a hard time saying goodbye to Christmas - we were sad to see it go!

Until we meet again...
Riley