Christmas 2010 in SC

I only have two complaints about our recent trip to SC.  The first is that we didn't have nearly enough time; we would've liked more time with our family as well as time to see friends we didn't get to see at all :(  The second is that saying goodbye to Mama on Sunday morning absolutely sucked.  The weekend really was perfect.  We arrived at Mama's house Thursday night around 11:30pm, slept great but not enough, and were back on the road before 8am on Christmas Eve morning to see Grampa Keck in Hickory, NC.  I wish everyone had the opportunity to meet this man.  Aside from poor eyesight, hearing, and being on oxygen 24/7, he is in excellent shape.  His mind functions unbelievably well; his memory is excellent.  I am so thankful we were able to spend some time with him as well as with my Aunt Barbara, who stopped by while we were visiting with Grampa Keck.  He even approved Gramma Keck's Christmas cookies that I baked/took to him.

We spent Friday afternoon at the Quillen household with grandparents and great-grandparents, eating chili, watching Caroline, Camille, and Vivian perform for us, and playing Wii.  Ben will be three in February and is at such a fun age right now.  I love watching him interact with his sisters; they absolutely adore him.  We went to St. James UMC on Christmas Eve with Memommie, and when I say 'we' I mean me, John, Mama, Anna, George, Jo, Mimi, Robert, Beth, Bradley, and Bailey.  Being in that church brought back so many memories from childhood and from our wedding this past June.  I loved every minute of it, and I also loved watching Memommie delight in being with her family.  That was the best Christmas gift we could've given her (aside from the couple hundreds of $ she received in Wal-Mart gift cards :)  John and I stopped by Lily's (one of Memommie's best friends) house after church in hopes of seeing Katy Lenderman (Lily's granddaughter and my good friend from childhood) and her baby, Jackson.  We missed them by about 15 minutes, but Lily and Katy's dad made sure our visit was worthwhile by placing us in front of the Christmas tree, in front of the entire family, to pose for a picture.  Fun times!  Back at Mama's house, we spent a good bit of the night making 3 pans of lasagna in preparation for Christmas day.  It was fun being in the kitchen (my favorite room of any house) with Mama and John.  John was busy browning (<---Mama's maiden name) the meat while I mixed the Oreo truffle (or dumplings, as my friend, Danielle, calls them) ingredients.  What a great day from start to finish!

We slept in Saturday morning, which was Christmas Day, and then invited Memommie over for breakfast.  John cooked pancakes, and I burned bacon in the oven.  Memommie always asks for crispy bacon when we go out to eat, so I made sure it was crispy (by burning it.)  I baked it for 12 minutes, like the instructions said to do, but broiling for two minutes (which the instructions did not say to do) was not a good idea.  I then started over and tried to make it in the microwave, and it somehow crumpled up into something that looked like a baby's hand - weird, I know.  The burned bacon got eaten anyway, as did the bacon John made in the frying pan.  Mama, Memommie, and I had scrambled eggs in addition to bacon and pancakes.  John claims he doesn't like eggs even though he hasn't tasted them in decades.  I spent the afternoon baking cookies and was able to squeeze in a 30 minute nap before getting ready for the entire family to arrive.  There were 15 adults (or at least old enough to eat like adults) and 4 children - a full house, for sure!  Being with the entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, and then some) like that is always so much fun, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Around 4pm, shortly before everyone arrived, it began snowing- my first white Christmas ever!  Mama sent me an email last Thursday saying that we might have a white Christmas.  For those of you that know anything about Spartanburg, calling for snow is almost pointless; it rarely ever happens, and it usually doesn't stick even if it does snow.  Not this time!  It snowed on/off till after John and I left to go back to FL Sunday morning.  We even got to have a snow ball fight, make snow angels, and Camille worked hard on a cute little snowman.  I don't think the day could've been any "specialer."