"Mary" Christmas in Kentucky

My sister kinda helped me with the title of this post.  She kept saying that our trip up to Kentucky was for "Mary" Christmas.  I thought it was cute, so I stole it.  :) 

We had a wonderful trip back home this past weekend.  We left on Wednesday evening and stopped in Nashville to stay the night at Hotel Preston.  It was so nice to break up that 8 hour drive!  I think we've spoiled ourselves now. 

Thursday, we got home in the afternoon, got settled in, then went to my aunt's house for Thursday night supper.  Terry is so sweet.  She made all my favorites: BBQ, peas, and brocoli with cheese.  Plus, she had some Ale-8 on hand.  Yummy!  That evening, we also did our Rite Aid and CVS trip.  More on that later.

Friday I went out with mom and Audra on a mission to find a skinny Christmas tree, a pretty nativity, and a star.  We ending up finding the tree, but not the other stuff.  I also stopped to pick up the chocolate advent calendars for Luke, Emma, and Reagan. 

When we got back, I helped put the tree up (Audra did all the decorating), and then it was time to head out.  We stopped at Graeter's (pour one out for the lost hommies) visited Red and the new bebe, went to a late lunch with Audra and Matt, and then went back down to my old high school to see Emma in her dance recital.  Honestly, she was the cutest thing ever.  She was definitely scared on stage and didn't dance, but I still think she was pretty brave to even stand up there all by herself.  I don't know many kids her age who could do that.

Afterwards, Emma's whole fan-club went to Three Suns for a little dinner.  Josh and I had to eat and run so that we could go see even more friends at Graeter's, trip 2.  That ice cream is amazing.  mmmmm.  How I will miss those stores...

Saturday was our Christmas and everything was so perfect.  We woke up to all kinds of snow.  The whole family came down to mom and dad's for brunch.  I don't think there is anyone in this world who can make a breakfast as good as my momma does.  We had two big casseroles, biscuits with sausage gravy, cinnamon rolls, and blueberry muffins.  Yum!  (I think I probably put on a few pounds this trip.)  Luke was starting to get antsy about opening gifts, so we made him go around to each adult at the table and ask if they were finished eating.  When he got to Reagan she said "yes, I'm done...see," and then opened her mouth to show Luke she wasn't eating anymore.  So stinking cute.

Then it was time for presents!  Luke practiced his surprised face and seemed to really like all the stuff he got.  Emma and Reagan are just precious and they really enjoyed their gifts too.  At some point in the hustle and bustle, I realized Josh was no longer in the room.  Then my sister had grabbed her coat and told us all to look at what was going on outside.  Josh had left and was in the process of making on of the biggest snowmen I've seen.  Most of us got on our cold weather gear and headed outside to help.  We got the snowman decorated, built a fort, had multiple snowball fights and wrestling matches, and went sledding.  It's definitely the most fun I've had with family out in the snow ever.

When we got back inside, Luke started playing with Emma's new doctor kit.  He was taking my temperature and giving me "shots."  He said, "Aunt Mary you are sick.  You have to stay here for 100 days!"  Kinda made my heart melt a little.  He even wrote a note for me to give to my boss.  Very cute lil kid.  Once we unthawed, the siblings left and we watched the UK vs. UNC game.  Wish that would have turned out differently, but at least we were competitive for the entire game.  I made a trip up to Benedictus for the open house (I just can't stay away) and we topped off the weekend with Josh's first experience at Wilmore Old-Fashioned Christmas and Mary Brooks's cookie-a-thon. 

Best trip home yet!  (Didn't really mean to get into this much detail, but it was a busy weekend!)