Normally, for the past few years, my family and In-laws have gotten together and spent Christmas Eve at a Brazilian Steakhouse, here in Atlanta, known as Fogo De Chao. If you love meat and have never eaten there, you are missing out. For seventy five dollars a person, you can eat as much meat as you can handle. I’m talking about prime cuts of meat. My favorites are the filet mignon, garlic with bacon wrapped steak tenderloin, lamb chops and so so so many more options. I’m not talking about the kind of meat at Golden Corral. Once you eat at FDC, it will be hard for you to pay regular prices for one plate at a local steakhouse. This is why I could never be a man and enjoy the dating scene. I need to spend my money knowing I got the best deal and some of these places just don’t cut it. There’s not many women out there who enjoy Taco Bell, as much as I do, so yeah, I’d be single forever if I were a man.

Anyway, I always ramble off topic. It’s a bad habit. So anyway, this year, we did something different and chose to go to our church’s Christmas Eve program. I haven’t been to church in a while because I’ve been behind my computer screen, Since October, editing sessions. I’ve told myself I’d be so behind if I spent half the day at church and away from working. So we went to service that night and it was so nice, so peaceful and just what my spirit needed. I always feel at home in a church. It doesn’t matter what church or where it’s at. There’s just something about a church that makes me want to sit on the pew and get lost in my thoughts.

The service didn’t last as long as I expected but it was really nice. They played music but it wasn’t as long as it is during the Sunday services. They sang a few songs then we had the Lord’s supper. I don’t think the service lasted a full hour but at the end with all the lights off, you could almost see everyone around us smiling at how peaceful the room felt. I looked around and noticed how many other people were looking around at all the lights and everyone smiling at each other when we made eye contact. Our gathering was small this year. It was just me, John, our daughter Jenna (pictured below) my parents and my ex-husband, Chuck (pictured below.) One day I will refer to him as Uncle Chuck because Jenna loves when he’s around. She’s so confused at how her daddy is my son’s step dad but Chuck is not her step dad. She doesn’t think it’s fair but he’s her best friend so he joins us for most events during the holidays.

Here’s a group photo of all of us. I swear, sometimes I feel like a part of the sister-wives when I’m in between him and John but we do what we have to…..for the kids….right? I just pray that when I’m old with dementia, I’m not calling John by Chuck’s name or saying my last name is what it use to be. How awful would that be? I’m blessed they both get along and enjoy each other’s company. Did you know sometimes the two of them will get together and grab dinner without any of us? It’s nice. It’s adulting. I feel accomplished. Too bad being so chill with that doesn’t wash away past sins. lol.

I’m not sure if this was on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning but my sister sent us a text showing us what she made. She was hosting her In-laws, in Savannah this year and couldn’t make it to moms. We missed her and Paul but we all kept up with her via text and facetime.

Before I get into Christmas day, let me tell you about how the night went. Jenna insisted she was going to stay up all night tracking Santa. She especially wanted to be awake when he landed on the roof so she could see if she could hear Santa’s bells ring. Well, it was about ten p.m. we were on mom’s deck when a neighbor, two doors down was breaking down cardboard boxes and throwing them off their deck. Jenna heard this, thinking it was Santa. Her eyes got as round as quarters and she went from being loud, pleading her case to stay up to throwing her hand over her mouth, whispering to us that she hears Santa as she ran off to bed. She fell asleep so fast, so excited she heard him. I wasn’t about to tell her it was the neighbors so we could get a decent amount of sleep. Thanks to the Santa tracker on the phone, she woke up every two hours tracking him. She was wound up around three a.m. and insisted it was time to go see what he left her. She knows Nana and Grandpa are coming over to Mimi and Pappaw’s at seven a.m. to watch her open gifts but she didn’t want to wait. She begged to reenact the whole thing and act surprised when she went to see what Santa brought her when everyone else was in the room.

She finally fell asleep for good around four a.m. I hated to wake her up just to open gifts but everyone was there and ready. This was the first year my oldest, Cameron (in the second pic) was able to join us. He and Chuck are normally at Chuck’s families and we see Cameron the following week. This year, he chose to get up extra early and surprise Jenna. Mom made breakfast for everyone to eat while we all opened gifts. I really enjoy having both families come together to celebrate. It makes it so much easier not having to house hop to see everyone.

Here’s Gary handing out gifts. We need to work on his smile but it’s hard catching him in movement. By the way, these are all cell phone pics.

I was so excited to catch Jenna’s reaction to having her own eyeshadow pallet. She is obsessed with watching Shab & Kassie (a mom and daughter duo on social media) put makeup on. She tries to copy everything this little girl is doing. I thought Jenna was pretty dang good at doing her own (self taught) makeup until I saw one of these videos myself. That little girl makes me want to enroll myself in makeup classes. Watch her here and say I’m wrong. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. https://youtube.com/shorts/aQ2JIAfs0hc?si=wEpT8EdlcNkX3Kp8

Among other gifts were a few purses, shoes, bubble gum machines, sweaters, kid games, etc.

John is doing more with his Mason group and wants to dress more formal so Jenna got him some nice shoes and ties to match the blazers he has at home. Luckily, they’re the same colors as the ties. I think Jenna (John) did a good job picking these out for him.

Aside from her eyeshadow, Jenna’s favorite gift was her Wednesday Adams outfit. As soon as she finished opening her gifts, she changed into this dress and didn’t take it off until later that evening. I tried to get her to smile for a photo but she insisted on staying in character.

Later in the day, after visiting the cemetery, we met up at the In-laws for dinner and more gifts. John’s Aunt made all of this food. It was too much. It was so good. We all got a to go box when we left. I wish I made more than one box, seeing how much was left when she packed it up. Of course, the photo is taken because I was too tired to fix myself for the day. Normally I’m never in any pictures. At least I showered. We’re missing my brother- in- law because he left to get his son. His wife is right behind me though. Sam! I just love her! She’s pregnant. I can’t wait to see how Jenna handles another girl in the family. She’s been wanting a sister for years now. Thanks Sam and Chris for taking one for the team.

I tried to get a good photo but Nolan never smiles for me. Chris ate his dinner on the piano stool as he swept the wrapping paper off the floor with his foot.

The bottom right photo, is Sam showing off their yearly ornament from the parents. Every year they gift us an ornament with everyone’s name on it. These are my favorite gifts every year. It’s fun to see them on the tree and how much we’ve grown through the years. This year, our stocking had two extra names on it and John asked who those names belonged to. We had to remind him we had pets at home and she included them on the ornaments. That was a good laugh. He said he had a “Christy moment.” I tell ya, it’s contagious *wink wink*

So, Jenna gets a little too excited when she gets bubble wrap. She wanted to make sure it wasn’t mixed in with the torn wrapping paper and thrown away so she wrapped it around her neck like a scarf, just to make sure she’d have it to pop later on. It reminds me of a time at work, when I was working the drive thru and laid all the bubble wrap on the floor and danced across it. My boss ran inside the drive thru, thinking I had been shot. The whole thing was funny, the next day, but when you work at a bank, no one has a sense of humor and I got written up for it. Oh well, good memories.

Here’s the kids enjoying their gifts from Santa. This trampoline will probably rot in this spot. I’m not sure about Nolan but Jenna has been begging for a trampoline for years!!!! The bottom right photo cracks me up because it looks like the characters on a game John and Jenna play together. This just happens to look like they’re busting karate moves but they were far enough away from each other, it’s just the camera angle.

I hope everyone reading this had a good Christmas. Since covid, I know Christmas looks a lot different than previous years. I wish I could take the hurt away for all of my friends missing lost family, whether it’s from covid, life decisions, or if your loved one is protecting our country. If it helps any, I lost my dad to cancer when I was sixteen. He’s still missed but it does get easier every year.

Don’t forget, I’m obsessed with wedding photography, so if you know anyone looking for a wedding photographer, PLEASE share my info with them. One more thing before I go. If you’d like more info on Fogo De Chao, follow this link. You won’t be sorry. Go at least one time. If you go during lunch, it’s half the price. https://fogodechao.com/location/atlanta/?&utm_content=&mkwid=&pcrid=&kw=&pmt=&pdv=c&slid=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1rSsBhDHARIsANB4EJadBbyjSRQt8gBmHpVXMFJWlr3KD0KD7P4Qx_ON6gynocUA3nnMbx8aArpHEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Y’all please keep up with me next year. I’ve finally got my groove with this blogging. It takes a lot of time but I’m trying my dangest to write a blog each week. My goal is to drop it on Tuesday but it’s been dropping by Friday. I also hope to have more mini sessions available this year and offer some with composition work through photoshop, like I did with the polar express minis. You can keep tabs on me through this link if you’re not following me on FaceBook. https://book.usesession.com/i/2vq1XcoTE

Thanks for reading. Love ya, mean it,

Christy