Bamblen Christmas 2011

We have a lot of different groups to see over the holidays, so my dad very kindly agreed to celebrate with us a week early.  Amanda did a "Bamblen" Christmas with us last year, so we kept the name and expanded to include my dad, Heather, Tyler, and Alexander (Heather's girls were out of town unfortunately!).

We started with our traditional lunch at Champions, which was gorgeous as usual.

The decorations are really amazing!  Our wedding was there five years ago, and the decorations alone were what dictated our wedding date.  I am always so happy to go back and see them.  Sawyer was perfect during lunch, which made it all the more great!

Some family pictures...

After lunch we went back to my dad's house and opened gifts with everyone.  Sawyer got some Legos and was a happy camper playing with those with Tyler and Alexander while the rest of us opened.  My dad, as always, was so generous with his gifts for us - S got the Legos and a basketball goal and some books, Jeremy got a Blu-Ray player, and I got some shoes I desperately wanted!  But more than the gifts, we were so happy to spend a relaxing day with my dad and his family - normally we're rushing between houses on Christmas and don't get to spend enough time together.  This day was not rushed at all, Sawyer was wonderful, and it was just such a treat to have that time together.  We also enjoyed celebrating with Amanda, who left before Christmas for Puerto Rico to spend the holiday with her friend.  I really appreciated everyone working to finish shopping and wrapping a whole week before Christmas - I know it wasn't easy, but it really made our Christmas day easier, too.