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I’ll have to do bullet points, because there is so much I want to remember:

Friday, Dec 22nd

Dad and Christy are here from Austin.  I was sick with strep/ear infection.  Dad went to Caleb’s preschool party.  Christy filled in for me and helped another mom with Jacob’s school party.  What would we have done without them?

They brought dinner from Campisi’s in that night and we opened gifts with Michael and Olivia (who was also sick) and Mark and Anne.  My surprise was antique glassware to go with my great grandmother’s china.  What a treat!

We got a kick out of Caleb and my dad performing "12 Days of Christmas" for us complete with actions.

Jacob got a metal detector…you’d of thought he had died and gone to heaven!

Saturday, Dec 23rd

Me and Sam are still sick.  My mom takes the big boys all the way to Arlington to see the Nutcracker.  They had a blast, but were exhausted when they got home.

Monday, Christmas Eve

We enjoy Christmas Eve dinner at my brother Mark’s house.  It was so fun to be there and see his place all neatly decorated and festive.  We had a nice dinner and then battled it out at "guitar hero".  Even my grandmother got in on it…how many kids can say they’ve played guitar hero with their great-grandmother!

Tuesday, Christmas Day

Santa did indeed come (and stayed up late the night before!).

For Jacob – a skateboard and a Tony Romo jersey

For Caleb – a new bike and a Dirk Nowitski jersey

For Samuel – a red wagon and a bear named "Sam"

I got a new camera lens…yippee!  And Derek got a new titanium wedding band. 

We met up at my Mom and Steve’s at mid-day with the rest of the gang…Grandma Haymond, Grandma Kake (Kay), Mike, Liv, Mark (and later Anne).  Before our big dinner, we like to have "performances" (don’t all families do that?).  This year Caleb and I have been working on a special song to entertain everyone with…complete with props.  But he backed out last minute (figures).  The show must go on though, despite his embarassment.  And we had a great time singing "Mele Kalikimaka" (Bette Midler Christmas CD)…thanks to Mike and Rocky for filling in.

But wouldn’t you know it…just when we thought Caleb was going to be afraid of the stage, he requests a chance to sing "Silent Night" for everyone.  And I hope I never forget it.  It was the MOST beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.  It was like an angel was singing…in perfect pitch.  His sweet little voice brought tears to everyone’s eyes.  That was my highlight…hands down.

Then on to a beef tenderloin dinner.  And almost 2 hours of gift giving/receiving/opening.  It’s quite a show with us Smith/Robinson/Lawsons, but it’s SO fun.

I got a big surprise from my brothers and LIv.  I had admired an artists work at a gallery in Savannah this summer.  And they picked up one of the pieces for me as a surprise.  I was so touched and it will always be a treasured gift to me…such a surprise.  You can see the artists work HERE.

What a Christmas!

Now Derek’s back to work, I’m still cleaning up, and now we get ready for 2 big birthdays next week…

I’m realizing now that these thumbnail pictures are much too small for the blog.  But I worked for over half an hour on this cute thing, so it’ll just have to do for the time being.  I’ll try to post bigger photos tomorrow.