A very merry Christmas

What a wonderful Tennessee family Christmas!

At long last, we made it to Knoxville... just in time for Santa Claus to pay a visit!

Hamp asked for a football and a Fathead of Eric Decker (I had to google both the product, and the player!) and Santa came through with a whole set of Broncos mini-Fatheads and a Broncos football of course!

Sam made the request for a diary (with a lock and key so his brother can't read it!) and a basket for his bicycle (so he can cart his stuffed animals around town this summer!). Santa was pleased to oblige on this one, too.

Looks like these two were on the "nice" list for 2013 after all...

We had just enough time to make cookies, see a movie, do a little shopping and go out to lunch before someone's special arrival....and I don't mean Santa Claus!

COUSINS!!!!!

Gabe even got to play with his cousin, Winston!

Once the whole family was together and all the gifts had been opened - the fun began...

One day, Yaya treated her daughters-in-law to a nice lunch out at the Paris Apartment Tea Room, while Papa took his sons and all the kids to the park and out for burgers and fries:

Then another day we all went out to the movies and enjoyed the latest Disney flick, Frozen:

We spent one afternoon trying to stay upright at the ice skating rink:

And then another day we split up - the big kids went to see the new Hobbit movie while the little kids got in a fun round of bowling:

Perhaps our favorite outing was a trip to the American Museum of Science and Energy where we learned about electricity, nuclear energy, physics, mining and many other facets of science!

it was a hair-raising experience!

Heck, one night Jason and I even snuck out to go hear Uncle Don's band, the ChillBillies!

They rock...

Uncle Don (on the left) plays sax, flute, tambourine, back-up vocals... and pretty much whatever else he wants - he's brilliant!

When we weren't gallivanting all over Knoxville - we all enjoyed being together at home!

With 6 adults, 5 kids, and 2 dogs it was a constantly fun and exciting place to be - there were songs, dancing, Foosball tournaments, jigsaw puzzles, lego building, fort building, crafts and even a puppet show:

And as if all that weren't enough - on the last day the kids all got home made cotton candy!!!

We are so fortunate that all of us could be together for a week and do so much.
We ate well, we laughed a lot, and we loved every precious minute we had.
I would say that the best gift would be the new tree that was planted in honor of Yaya & Papa at their church - they have spear-headed and managed a huge landscaping project and we were lucky to get a tour of the grounds when we were there - but it goes without saying that truly the best gift this Christmas was the joy of family...