Christmas done come....and gone

Well it was a very busy Christmas season. We have attended numerous gatherings with family and friends and helped with many many kids events. It was fun though. Tracie is a pro with those types of things and handles it all without to much fan fare. I think she had 4 in one day at some point during the fun. All was great though. We are a blessed family. Noah and Carson had a wonderful time and this year was really alot of fun getting them involved in the Christmas events. I knew we had done a good job when Noah asked me one day last week, "what was Christmas spirit" we talked about what it meant to be happy and just loving life and being fully of joy because it was Jesus's birthday.....he told me he was full of Christmas spirit.

I want to think that is what he was full of anyway.....

I wrapped up work on Wednesday of last week, we fried 8 turkeys and delivered them around. Spent most of Thursday enjoying being with the family and went to FUMC Thursday night. Beautiful service and a big crowd. Came home to getting the house prepared to host Santa.

The big man did show and the kids where super excited. We had our breakfast and headed to Enterprise in time for lunch with the Clarks. Great to be with family. Ended Christmas night at Parksmill with the Mallards. More eating and gift giving. Wonderful Christmas day and further assurance of the blessings that are health and family.

Santa's bag was mostly full of bikes.....Noah got a big boy bike and Carson got a PINK radio flyer.

Pretty Ladies.....I ate way to much for Christmas lunch....but it was all so good.


It really was not that cold, Dad just looks like that anytime the temp gets below 65.....

Carson loves dress up.....these just happened to be close by. Her aunt Kelli got her princess dresses....we have seen those alot this week.

Pretty rare when we are all there.

As is the tradition with the Mallard men, after the gifts are given and the visiting is wrapping up, the attention turns to hunting. Dad, Alex, and I are the only ones in camp, and deer are moving slow, but that will change pretty soon.

I do believe that we are ready for 2010. These years sure to seem to go by fast lately.

Enjoyed Thanksgiving, and.............Here Come Christmas

We sure do seem to bunch up our holidays. Seems like Thanksgiving takes forever to get here and then in a day it is done.....and the count down to Christmas is on. Fun time though. We left Tupelo and headed South Tuesday before turkey day and stayed through Sunday. Good time had by all. I think I gained a pound or two and I know I consumed more dessert than I have in the past several months.

We stayed at the Barn, and everything worked out well. The new arrangement helped with traffic flow and getting the two their own play room helped much. We had more food than could feed twice as many people. It is just hard to control some of the chefs in the family. Between Aunt Kelli (bacon wrapped shrimp kabobs), Tracie (pecan pie), Momma (dressings galore and many breakfasts) and myself (stuff venison tenderloin....I also cooked two turkeys at one time, smoked and fried) there was never any hunger in the house.

I am still not even close to getting to set at the grown up table....
Tools of a master....turkey be ware....the egg is the easiest thing to cook on since the microwave.

Not very many deer, but some great time with T. Could not imagine a better way to spend an afternoon.
Lovin Aunt Kelli.
..........and marsh mellows.
they even let dad play. It was fun for a while.....but then it got real cold. Tracie was a real trooper. I think this was on Friday and she had been up since about 4 to shop black Friday.
the skinning room would be on your left and mine and Matt's old room to the right. Looks different huh?

Lest I forget....there was one other thing.

.........there was a little football game played on Saturday that many of us had an interest in. The Egg Bowl is not something that T and I watch together. I think we have twice....once, our first together, before marriage and I think we where in DC and could not watch it with anyone else and then Eli's senior year (in the rain and a beating by OM) I think that is when she decided I was a keeper. Since then it has just been best to watch it on our own with kin....somebody ain't going to be happy with the outcome. We handle it well, just maybe not in the first 15 minutes after the fact. It is best to give a little time.

State won, and it was a great day to be a Bulldog. Dad and I went, and it is a memory we will share for a long time, we've got a few of those, and several on that campus. Great way to end the year and it really does look like things are headed in the right direction...at both schools. Not much use to gloat....history tells us that have seen a few of these that roles can be reversed pretty quick. Besides, when you sleep with the rival....it can get lonely on the couch if you say too much.