Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was full of family, memories, and lots of fun! Our schedule was very busy, but Rylynne handled it pretty well. She had a great first Christmas. Out of everything she received, her favorite was crawling on the boxes and eating the paper! haha Here are a few photos. I couldn't put near as many as I wanted!

Christmas Eve Morning: We had breakfast at Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Brian's house.

Rylynne's gift from Uncle Brian was a toy chest! The perfect gift after receiving so many toys!

Christmas Eve Lunch: We had lunch at Nana & Pawpaw's with Aunt Leah & Uncle T!

Christmas Eve Night: We headed to Uncle Bobby & Aunt Susan's house. This was the Connell Christmas! Christmas is normally at Grandmother's house, but there have been some changes this year. Everything went great. Grandmother had a great time along with the rest of the family. We continued the same traditions including singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and a BBQ dinner. The only thing that changed was the location!

Christmas Morning: Santa Came! Shawna, Rylynne, and I had a great time! Santa was good to Rylynne, bringing her a Little Peoples Nativity Scene, a GIANT Minnie Mouse, Wagon, and more! Santa also came to see Suzie. She was very happy getting a new duck to chew up! This was the first year that Shawna and I did not spend Christmas morning going to our parents house. They came to us this year.

This is the night before. Rylynne was ringing the bell for Santa to come! Letting him know she was on her way to bed!

Christmas Day Lunch: We went to Aunt Vickie & Uncle Dicke's house for the Swafford Christmas. Rylynne slept through lunch, but was ready to go for present time!

Christmas Night: We headed to our final stop, Oma's House!

A day with Rylynne....

Here are some photos from a day at home with Rylynne. She is exploring everything now. From climbing under furniture to undecorating the tree.

I left her alone in her room long enough to put some cloths in the dryer. When I came back in the beads were coming off the tree and a couple of ornaments were at her feet.

I walked in the living room and could not find Rylynne. I found her climbing in the end-table. Her goal...the lamp cord. I just thought those cords were safe!

Pulling ornaments off the big tree.

Daddy Time...

Shawna was entertaining Rylynne for me tonight. I have a feeling Christmas will be all about the boxes & paper this year! haha

Shawna+Box+Rylynne=A Simple Fun Time!

Rylynne's Tree

Rylynne has her own tree in her room! Shawna asked when I was putting it up if I thought it was a good idea. I said "Yea, she won't crawl before Christmas." Well, I was wrong! But she loves her tree!

Crawling!

I knew Rylynne was getting close to crawling, but I was really hoping she was going to hold off till after Christmas. So much for that! She has now become interested in the Christmas Tree, the packages under the tree, and anything else she can get her hands on. She is also trying to pull up. She has accomplished it a couple of times. And one more thing...tooth #2 has broken thru! December has been a big month for her already!

Firsts, Changes, & Surprizes!

Thanksgiving--A time for family, thanks, & of course food! Our schedule is pretty simple: Thanksgiving Eve we get together with the Connell gang and Thanksgiving Day is spent with the Swafford side.

Firsts: This was Rylynne's First Thanksgiving! It was also her first time meeting some of the Connell family. She loved seeing her cousins.

Changes: This was the first year that the Connell Thanksgiving was held somewhere other than Grandmother and Pa's house. We all got together at Uncle Donnie & Aunt Harriette's. I think we were all a little unsure how this would go, but it turned out better than any of us could have hoped. With 34 members of the family there, it was a great time!

Surprizes: Leah & Tyler were not expected to make another trip to Georgia till Christmas. Right before time to eat Thanksgiving Day their car came down the driveway. They surprized everyone!

The Connell Thanksgiving

Rylynne's First Thanksgiving!

4 Generations!

The Swafford Thanksgiving