Christmas in Seabrook

This picture pretty much sums up our Christmas, pure bliss and sunshine. We were fortunate to be able to spend Christmas down at Seabrook with DeeDee, Papa and Uncle Court. Usually there are over 20 of us down there but this year due to conflicting schedules and busy lives, it was just the immediate family but still lots of fun. The weather was great, perfect for beach walks, golf and hanging out on the back deck. And trust me, this view never gets old.
Christmas Eve we went to church and it has been a year since Ella sat through a church service since we take her to the nursery at our church so I wasn't sure how she would do but since they learned all about Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph at school, she was excited. She loved the music and when things did get slow, coloring books and fruit snacks came in handy.
Back at home after church, we continued the tradition of hors devours on Christmas Eve.
Another tradition that was passed down is one that was started almost 30 years ago. My dad would give me a special bear every Christmas Eve and to this day, I still have them all. And, it's not just any bear, he would search long and far for the perfect bear making sure it had just the right amount of softness and hugability. Papa has now passed down this tradition to Ella and this year, she was very excited to open her gift.
She immediately fell in love with the bear who was perfectly named, "Ellie." She was immediately attached to the bear and now she insists on napping and sleeping with Ellie everyday. She even had to show Ellie to Santa and give them both a big hug. By the way, she was a little timid of the Santa at first but then thought he was great and hugged him all the time. Maybe there is hope she will actually sit on Santa's lap next year.
Before we went to bed so Santa could come, Ella and Uncle Court had a little dance party.
Ella woke up about 8am on Christmas morning and was excited about presents but while we waited for breakfast to be cooked and Uncle Court to wake up, she went to check out the dolphins with Papa.
Wow, we must have all been really good this year!
Now, it was finally present time, starting with stockings. She is a pro now at wrapping paper, no slowing her down.
And who would have guessed that one of her favorite gifts would have been a $1 Minnie Mouse spinning toy. Santa should have just stopped there.
Ella not only got excited to open her own gifts but she had to check out what everyone was opening. She was a really good helper!
And a model showing off Papa's new scarf that can also double as a hat.
She thought Mommy's new bracelet was so cool and wore it around all day.
Uncle Court came through with the coolest gifts though. Every 2 year old needs a North Face backpack right?
Uncle Court also got her a fancy new digital camera. She tries to grab our camera all the time to take pictures so she was very excited to have one of her own and the best part is the lens flips so she can take plenty of self portraits as well. It's also kid tough which is good since she has already dropped it several times.
She wanted to wear all her new gifts at once, the new tutu from Great Grammy, the backpack, the bows from her presents and capturing the moment with her new camera.
She is one lucky girl and got lots of new new toys and clothes. After a little while though, she started getting a little overwhelmed and kept saying "no more presents" and just wanted to play with the ones she had so we saved a bunch of them and spread them out over the next couple of days. After finally taking the pajamas off, we changed into our Christmas Day outfit and enjoyed the warm weather on the back deck.
Uncle Court taught her a new term, "chilling." Whenever we were out on the deck, Ella and Uncle Court would each sit in their respective seats and when asked what she was doing, Ella would say "Chilling with Uncle Court!" I think someone liked chilling on the deck! Oh, and she had to have her water in the drink cup. Everyone has to have a drink on the sunset deck!
We only had 1 morning of bad weather so we headed to the indoor pool for swimming. Mommy doesn't exactly fit into any bathing suits (nor wants to even try to fit into them) so Daddy took her in.
Uncle Court came and joined in shortly. Ella had a blast and keeps asking when we can go swimming again. Time to sign her up for swim lessons again soon.
Our final night, we had an amazing sunset. The perfect ending to a perfect Christmas.
Followed by an encore show with the moon and Venus.
Being able to experience holidays through children's eyes is truly magical and it keeps getting more fun with each one. We are truly blessed and had such an amazing holiday season and were so grateful we got to see so many friends and family.

P.S.-While I am typing this, I am also watching the Hokie game so please excuse any typos and Go Hokies! Wish we could have made it to New Orleans for the game but it does bring back amazing memories of being there in 2000 for the National Championship. Let's hope the outcome of this game is better than that one!