We started our celebration in Columbia the week before Christmas. I made a pumpkin french toast casserole for breakfast and we told the boys (well Jackson really) that we were going to have a mini Christmas celebration the night before so he was so excited we he woke up, just like he usually is on Christmas morning. Of course, we had to wait for Bennett and Nick to wake up but he was very patient and we had some sweet Mommy and Jackson time while we waited. Once everyone was up, we gave the boys their presents and Jackson gave us our presents. At his school, they have a Christmas Corner where each child gets to shop for presents for his family. I couldn't wait to see what he got for us and he was very thoughtful. He gave Nick a box of yummy chocolates and told him he got him milk chocolate because he knows that Mommy likes white chocolate but Daddy doesn't. And he gave me a travel coffee mug which was perfect because I had JUST told Nick he could put one in my stocking. Jackson said he noticed I always use Nick's travel mug now on my way to take him to school every morning. The mug had the letter N all over it and when I asked him why the letter N, he said "N as in Nancy!" I started laughing and he said that's what he hears me say on the phone and he was so right. Whenever I give our my work email, I say "nkelly, n as in Nancy, k-e-l-l-y." I never realized he was paying such close attention all these years. And then to add to the humor, Jackson said, "N is also for Nebraska football!" Silly kid!
A few days later we were off to Atlanta to celebrate with what I refer to as the tour of Atlanta. I'm pretty sure we put more miles on my car those two days than we do on the drive to Atlanta from Columbia. And although it is exhausting, we are so grateful to have family close enough to see for the holidays. Thursday we spent the afternoon and evening celebrating Mark's 60th birthday with dinner at Bambinelli's and then a family bowling competition won by the birthday boy, Linda, Nick and Jackson (slightly unfair because they used bumpers for Jackson). Friday put an end to the constant "When is Emerson coming to play?" and "Will I see Emerson today?" questions. All of the Grassos came over to my parents house for a perfect morning. The mini cousins napped while the older two played everything and everywhere imaginable! We had a quiet afternoon and then were treated to a night out celebrating Nick's board certification with Tamara and Brian at Empire State South. If you haven't been there, it's definitely a must try in Atlanta.
Saturday brought the official start of the "tour" with lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Kelly's house. After spending some time with the Kelly side we were off to the children's mass at Holy Cross with a longer than normal car ride to allow Bennett to take a nap before church. As soon as mass was over, we hurried back to my parents house, finished up the dinner prep, took a few pictures and opened presents before the minis needed to go to bed. Once they were fast asleep, we enjoyed another delicious meal and good company and had a relatively early end to the night around 11.
Jackson woke us up around 7am the next morning and told us he had already snuck downstairs and saw the presents under the tree. He told me, "He turned on the light and then realized he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing so he turned it back off and came upstairs to get me." I was a little disappointed that I missed the first reaction of him coming down to see the gifts but he was still super excited when we all went down and he actually saw what Santa had left and noticed the stockings too. We enjoyed some quiet time playing with the new toys before going to our annual Salman brunch at the Ritz followed by going to Nick's parents house to spend time with them and open presents and then off to Mema's for the evening celebration with the Buechner's. It was a very fun 5 days spent in Atlanta and I'm sure we'll need at least that many to recover and get back on schedule before school starts next week.
We hope each of you had a very Merry Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year and all the best in 2012!
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