Trip to Vicksburg (finally...Christmas Part 3)

Settling back in across the pond means that here I am posting Christmas updates in late January.  I'm claiming better late than never...

We woke up early on Monday and headed towards Mississippi. We made the 10 hour drive in one day to help minimize our travel time and maximize our family time.

Joey enjoying his first time driving a mini van

So happy to see this sign!!

We were all so excited to see Gran and Grandaddy and get to celebrate Christmas together.  Christmas Eve (since we've have had children) has been a work day for Joey so it was so nice to get to spend the evening all together. We got to enjoy our first Christmas Eve service as a family in the pews and go to Crawford Street UMC, where I grew up.

After the service and Mrs. Blackburn's delicious French Market Soup, the boys changed into their Christmas pjs and got ready for bed.

sweet brothers!

In the past, we've celebrated Christmas at our house and then driven 3 hours to celebrate again in Vicksburg. It was so nice to wake up on Christmas morning and not need to pack to go anywhere!

Sleepy boys excited for Christmas morning

Joseph looking at the present he specifically wanted

Gran and Grandaddy made sure the boys had lots of lovely presents on Christmas morning and they had a blast tearing into each one.

James got the book "Smash!Crash!" and Gran kindly read it to the boys (probably more than once;).

Later on, we went outside to enjoy the warmth and sunshine! We rode bikes, played baseball, practiced skating, and participated in a few races.

The boys got skates and all the gear for Christmas. We tried them out in the carport and they were especially impressed with how the pads helped their ninja skills.

During our time in Vicksburg, we were able to squeeze in a quick trip to Starkville. We drove up to Starkville in time for worship on Sunday morning and it was such a gift for us to see our Church family and our friends that we have missed.  That night, we went back to Church for the children's New Year's Eve party. The boys had a great time seeing their friends and ringing in the New Year (a little early).

Joseph and one of his best friends, Jack

I didn't take too many pictures because we tried to do so much and just enjoy our time. We were so thankful to get to see so many friends and have a little time to catch up.  Our good friends the Overstreets hosted us and we were so blessed to spend time with them, our home group, and many other dear friends. And, of course, we fit in several trips to City Bagel:)

After our trip, we watched live American football and got to see MSU have a great bowl win. We celebrated New Year's and spent time together as a family. On our last weekend in the States, our cousins arrived! It was so fun to have everyone together again.

opening presents

all lined up to watch a show

Love these sweet boys!

Since the last time we were in town together, the younger boys have both moved to big beds and sharing a room with their older brothers. So, we decided it was only right to let them all share the big bunk room together. 

Four boys have a lot of energy so we like to go outside when we can. A favorite past time is trying to keep the ball from going down the hill.

Before we left, we had a mini-family reunion with my aunt and uncle and cousins. The whole crew came down from North Mississippi and Memphis and we had a great day spending time together and catching up.

Joseph and Parker loved meeting their other cousin Sophie 

My Aunt Kathie went through old videos from all of our Christmases growing up and put them on dvds for us to watch together. We got a kick out of seeing ourselves 20 years ago in our Christmas pjs. 

Picture taken at a distance to protect the innocent fashion victims on the tv screen

Before we knew it, it was time to catch a plane back to Scotland. Gran and Granddaddy entertained the boys while we hurriedly finished up our packing. Thanks for a wonderful trip and a memorable Christmas!