Holiday Cheer Part Dos

So to continue our rock-star celebration of the holidays we took a 4 hr plane ride through the bowels of hell little flight to the Deep South to see my amazing extended family.  Ahhhh, yes - Mobile, AL.  Vacation destination to noone.  And yet a place filled with so many wonderful memories of every childhood Thanksgiving and Christmas. Plus it's where all of my very favorite relatives reside.  :)

The flight was awesome.  And by awesome I mean that Jordan and I both briefly contemplated breaking open the emergency exit midflight and parachuting down to earth. Sans parachute.  But we all got through it, Kinsey included, in one piece. Minus my sanity and will to ever fly across the country with an 11 month old again. Here are some fun memories from the flights (fun being relative):

She did eventually fall asleep, however thanks to those super-friendly flight attendants who love to continually hear their own voices in megaphone-like volume, it was brief.  Jordan discovered that putting her head under the blanket somewhat muffled her screams and also became a fun game.  Amazing the lengths that you will go to to entertain a child since other people feel it necessary to give you death stares because your baby is interrupting their reading of Skymall.

What a good dad :) Even though it totally messed up his hair gel it was worth it ;)

Alright, so you get the picture.  When we arrived we were on the brink of death. BUT it was time to put our big-people pants on and go see family! First one that we saw was my mom, who was practically seizing in the airport at the farthest possible line that security would allow her to stand. Excited to see Kinsey? Maybe a little :)

After going to her house and visitin' awhile, we moseyed on over to my cousin's house where we were staying.  (Thank you so much Chad and Shannon!)  Kinsey was exhausted, so it was bath and bedtime for her.  December 23rd marks her first bath in the bathtub without being in some other device like her ducky.  This may not sound awesome, but trust me, it is :)

The next day was Christmas Eve and our first stop was my Aunt Drexell's house where we ate some amazing food (complete with some Pecan Honey Butter...eat that Yankees) and hung out with family.

Next we headed over to my mom's house for dinner, aka Christmas Eve Cream Cheese fest.  There are no pictures of this as my food coma would not allow me to muster up the energy to hold the camera.

On to Christmas Day! Apparently Santa didn't have enough elfs already, so overnight he turned Kinsey into one!

Oh how she will hate me for this when she is older :)  But isn't she the cutest elf ever!?! We opened presents at Shannon and Chad's house and had a great time with my dad's side of the family.

Kinsey's cousin Will - such a fun kid!

Chad and Will having some quality Daddy Son time

Sisters 0:)

Aunt Drexell and the Kinsmeister

Apparently the weather lost the memo that it was Christmas Day, the most special time on earth, because there were such bad rain storms and even a TORNADO that blew through downtown! It was craziness, so we ended up just staying in that night and watching all of the excitement as it unraveled on the news. And watching Kins and Will as they trained to become professional trampoline jumpers.

The following day my dad (aka Paps) arrived and Kinsey was overjoyed!! See?? She has her Poker Face on, but I assure you, she was stoked.

 

This is one of my favorite pics of them ever.

That night we went to my Aunt Marsha's house to finally fulfill our Gibson Family Christmas Celebration.  It was a great time, full of children's laughter and the sound of my aunt Marsha telling me how to keep my husband happy while handing me a VS gift card.  Not awkward at all.

My aunt Marsha, Mamaw, and Bentlee

My Papaw...one of the greats :)

The only other excitement to report was my dad's bithday! Yes, he is old.  But I won't mention exactly HOW old here.  Wouldn't want to offend anybody :) Aunt Drexell put together a fabulous birthday party for him and it was a really great time.  (Best older sister ever!!) Here are some pics from the evening.

All ready for bed!

Have you ever seen a cuter hug?? Didn't think so.

3 Generations of Greatness.

Chad is obviously all hyped up here.  We told him to simmer down but he wasn't having it.

The night was topped off with some stogy smokin. My favorite pasttime :P

And that, my friends, is how holidays are celebrated - Southern Style :)