Christmas with Family

So much for timely blog updates.......the sad thing is that this post has been sitting half-completed in my queue for weeks now.  Anyway, here is a collection of pictures from our Christmas with family. 

Late Christmas night, we drove to Mom Mom's to celebrate the holidays with her.  She had been warning us for days that they were calling for significant snowfall, but we cavalierly dismissed it since we had survived the twin blizzards of 2010.  Needless to say, we were surprised, and shamelessly unprepared, for the amount of snow that fell!  It was beautiful to watch the snow falling heavily outside, as we unwrapped presents, grazed on delicious treats, and played with new toys all afternoon in the comfort of Mom Mom's newly renovated addition.

Originally we were supposed to visit Grandaddy and Grami Shar next, but we had to rearrange our travel schedule once we realized how treacherous the roads were.  At that time, major highways were either closed or barely passable.  Since Nana and Pop Pop live close by, we slowly made our way to their house instead.  The timing worked out well since our visit overlapped with Uncle Scott and Aunt Kelsea's visit.  After exchanging gifts, playing with new toys, and gorging on Christmas cookies, the boys collapsed in exhaustion.  The next morning we took Ryan sledding for the first time at City Park.  It brought back a lot of great memories of sledding there when I was growing up!

Next, we loaded up and headed to Granddaddy and Grami Shar's house.  Expecting a painfully long, slow drive, we were surprised to find Route 50 in decent shape.  We did have to double back on Route 90 and take an alternate route since it hadn't been plowed  at all (and it's a dangerous road on a clear, sunny day).  Much to the boys' delight, there were plenty of presents and yummy food and cookies waiting for us there as well!  Although Great Grandmom wasn't able to join us for our belated Christmas celebration, we did drop by to see her the following day for a brief visit before getting on the road to head home. 

It was an exhuasting, whirlwind trip, but, as always, it was worthwhile.  Christmas just isn't Christmas without spending it with those you love most!