Juengel Bells, Horses, Camels, and Toffee

The day after Christmas the Juengel Clan joined us, and to say the least we had a BLAST! Last year we just got together for dinner but, this year we were all at the beach together. Soooo needless to say this is our new tradition! We headed out to the Dixie Stampede later that night. Sydnie was squealing she was so excited when she found out we were going. Everyone had a good time...EXCEPT....FOR....DREW.. :( He is SOOOOOO allergic to Dander we found out. That night his face, neck and head were covered in whelps and was itching like crazy. But, he took a Benadyrl (not sure how to spell that) and he was like new in a few hours. :) One of the most amazing parts of the night was that they did a live nativity in the show. Im talkin with baby Jesus, camels, wisemen, the WHOLE WORKS!!! Knew for sure we were in the South! :)







Got back from the Stampede and we learned how to make the famous Juengel Toffee!

A Coastal Christmas Day

Peter Island french toast for Christmas morning. AHHHHHmazingly Delicious!




MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!!!! I had been wanting 2 floor lamps from Ikea and tried to order them online, and wasn't able to, you could only purchase in store. So Drew being sneaky had to go to Charlotte anyway a few weeks ago so he stopped by before a meeting he had and was running around like a banjee tryin to find them. He did. And I have my new lamps! He was worried I would figure it out because of the time he left for Charlotte, but I did not even put two and two together! HA!

This is funny because it is MiMi's trademark! You will always find her with a pair on.

Here we have a kind of gag gift from dad that we actually all LOVE. He says..."you can never be too prepared" :)

Sydnie is THE BEST to give a gift to. She makes you feel so good about the gift you give her...one of the presents drew and i gave her was a pair of Nike workout shorts like stac and i wear, so she can be "one of the sisters". Best. reaction. ever. :)

Dad suprised me and stac with Palin's new book! eeekkk!



Dinner was THEE best. Mom, Stac, Grandma and Me got in the kitchen and cooked up a feast. So fun. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas Eve was spent with Andrew's family...I hate saying "Andrew's family" because they are just as part of my life as they are his and I love them dearly...So let's say...Andrew's side of the family...or our family on Andrew's side. I like that better! HA! It was wonderful to have his Grandpa with us this year. He is 88 and a sweetheart! We had the honor of bringing him down from Raleigh and he told us lots of army stories. :) It was car bonding at its best. Kris our brother in law makes OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD spaghetti sauce. Im tellin ya REAL authentic italian with a kick kind of sauce. I LOOOOOVED it and ate it for the next 2 days! :) It was lots of fun with the fam and all the kids as ALWAYS!
Here's Drew being the kid magnet that he is....




Drew and Huddy Bear. He is full of L-O-V-E






When we got back to the beach house Mom gave us Christmas Pj's to wear on Christmas Morning (and really the WHOOOLE DAY LONG!). (Sydnie sort of insists that this happens! hahah!)

Good Morning, Good Morning...IT's time to RISE AND SHINE!

And this is how Drew was woken up on Christmas Eve morning!!!!!!!! It's a tradition. HAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Syd on Christmas EVE EVE with our Coastal Christmas Tree. Dad and Grandpa went down ahead of all of us and had it set up with the lights on when we all pulled up. It made Syd's Christmas! :)

A Special Christmas Treat...

This Year the week of Christmas Mom and I wanted to host a Party for MiMi and her friends at her house. It was one of the best December days. MiMi has some pretty great friends (16 infact that came). She has had these friends in her life for MANY MANY MANY years. They have been through thick and thin with each other, many weddings,child births, birthdays, joyful celebrations, church functions, children's weddings, deaths of loved ones and they remain SOLID! I just LOVE women this age. They are so wise and have SO many stories to tell that I could sit and listen to forever. :) Mom made spaghetti, strawberry salad, 7 layer salad, rolls, and a chocolate pound cake that was heaven. And, welllll....I showed up and helped. :) We had these ladies playing one of our favorite games "BUTT CHARADES" I mean CAN YOU PICTURE THIS???!!!!????!!!!! SOOOOO Hysterical! Then they went around telling everybody 1 thing that No one knows about them. (This too was a Laugh)!! So Thankful to be creating these kind of friendships in my own life. Blessed beyond measure. Thank you MiMi for a memory imprinted in my brain forever.

Tacky Tacky annnnnd TACKY

Here's just a few pics from a Tacky Christmas get together we had... Some took it really serious! I personally thought it was an absolute BLAST gettin all tackied up. I mean it is not every day that you can totally NOT CARE what you look like going out in public!



I loved my tacky frenchmen that night. we we!!