{hallie}lujah: Alabama Christmas

22 December 2012 -- 02 January 2013

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day at Nonna and Pop's

The Christmas Story

The stockings were hung...

Harper doesn't have a stocking yet, so we improvised. :o)

Santa came to see Hallie!

Santa came to visit Harper, too!

Nonna's gifts to the girls...she gave them karaoke machines. Yet she failed to give the parents ear plugs. Hmm...I think the "singing machines" [Hallie] should have stayed at Nonna and Pop's house!

Sleepy eyes on Christmas morning!

Hallie is precious...she didn't dig into all her gifts. Rather, she opened them one by one and played with each of them separately for about 30 minutes or longer before moving on to the next gift. I love that girl!

Santa brought Harper a Sophie Giraffe!

Harper loves the feel of her crinkle book!

Harper and Granny Dell (Harper's great-great aunt)

Uncle Kelly and Harper waiting to open presents.

Five minutes later...Harper thought she'd take a nap while waiting. :o)

Pop helped Harper open her presents!

This year, I asked the girls to take turn opening presents rather than digging in and no one knowing what they got. It took a little longer, but to me it was worth it! Hope no one else minded...I liked getting to see the joy and excitement on their sweet faces. Here, Hallie is *thrilled* to get a "wallet you can run over"! Ha!

And Abby was *thrilled* to get a "reborn" doll...which this one was actually an Ashton Drake doll...or an Android Baby as Uncle Jay lovingly (ha) named him...the doll would squeeze your hand.

The look on Harper's face says "I'd love to rip into that, but my hands won't quite do what I'm telling them to yet!" Ha!

Sweet Hattie Grace helping Harper open presents.

Another excited face...her VERY OWN CLIPPERS! Hahahahaha. Oh my word, this girl makes me laugh. She *loves* to dig the dirt out from under her nails. When she saw them, she immediately asked if it had a "digger". Haha!

Precious!

Granny Dell and her daughter (Barbara) with Harper

Hallie loves her Baby Alive...I believe she and HG went through every diaper within 30 minutes. There were 6 diapers! Haha. They just kept feeding that baby and letting her "poop". :o) I'm not all that sad that Hallie chose to leave Baby Alive at Nonna's to play with "next time".

Christmas Afternoon @ Aunt Becky's

Harper meeting Aunt Steph (my cousin) and Uncle Jeff (Harper's great uncle)

Cousins!

Harper with my cousin, Clay and his wife (Nikki) and daughter (Lexi)--doesn't he have a beautiful family? He has a 2.5 year old, Ethan, who was napping...he's just as adorable as his sister!

Morris Cousins--such beautiful girls!

Hallie & Hattie Grace

Abby, Lexi, & Nora

Aunt Mel and Harper...I love this woman and her love of life! The only thing I don't love is that she kept trying to get my baby to say "Roll Tide"! HA!

Aunt Becky was snuggling Harper and she fell fast asleep. :o) She must have been comfy in Aunt Becky's arms!

The Rest of Christmas Break

With Christmas being so early in the week, we had a chance to rest the remainder of the visit. Lots of giggles, playing, shopping, and just visiting happened. It was lovely. And as always, I wish it could have been longer!

My dad would come in each morning and get Harper to talk on a little walk around the house. Some mornings she was still sleeping, but this particular morning, he got her and I slept a few extra minutes. When I went into their room, this is what I found:

Aunt Mandi & Harper

Some of my favorite girls!

Hallie, Harper, Mandi, & Cailin

One handsome guy, my godson, Noah...and his duck earbuds that he just HAD to have! Ha!

Cute kids--Cailin, Hallie, & Mason

I love this little girl!!

Best friends!

Three Little Spies...they loved playing spies. It was the cutest things...and funny! Hallie got Walkie Talkies for Christmas from RahRah and Gramps, so they made perfect spy gear! :o)