christmas on the coast, part one

even though this is quite delayed, we had too much fun not to share more from our holidays in florida.  we had two christmases (the luck of having both families in the same city!) and then some post-christmas/new years time, so i will share in three posts since there are so many pictures! jack and i spent the first week at my parents house while david stayed in atlanta busily working on finishing his PhD experiments.  jack loved cuddling up with his cozy nonna:

we were in florida for a long enough break this year, that we were able to  take part in some long-standing family traditions, like day long christmas cookie baking where jack met lots of new relatives and big doggies (pictured below- his "favorite" great aunt debbie (self-titled), second cousins laurin and allison, and his great granny (her first great grandchild!)) and saw santa riding through the neighborhood on a firetruck (this is how we do santa in the gulfcoast):

christmas eve and christmas day are tradition-rich...my parents host my dad's side of the family on christmas eve starting the day with cinnamon rolls, bacon, and sausage balls and ending with a delicious dinner of  shrimp and chicken creole.  then, after a christmas morning filled with present opening, we join about 40 relatives on my mom's side of  the family to celebrate long into christmas night.

pictured below is jack meeting his aunt lynne and great mamaw:

jack having fun with great aunt diane and pops:

sleeping peacefully in aunt jessica's arms after a full day of excitement:

christmas morning kisses from pops and big sister sadie:

another annual christmas tradition is bowling with my mom's side of the family on december 26th followed by a huge beer and gumbo party.

stephanie with cousin brian at the bowling alley:

baby jack being lulled to sleep by great aunt debbie in the gutter lounge!  yes, my baby fell asleep inside a bowling alley bar...classy, i know...  i think his little outfit fits the part- he looks like a "party college boy"- sweater, undershirt, and khaki cords

more holiday pictures to come...