Low Country Christmas

Christmas felt a little different to me this year. not bad at all; in fact it was wonderful...but different. this year was the first time in 30 years i haven't spent Christmas with my brother. circumstances being what they are, it was for the best...but it was different. regardless of feeling the absence of my brother and his family, there were truly some great moments shared this Christmas.

here are the highlights....

spending time with my MIL
(that's mother-in-law to those who are challenged in texting lingo)
the past two holidays i have had the pleasure of getting to spend some one on one time with my MIL. most of the time when we come into town it's for such a short amount of time, so it is rare we get to spend a lot of time together. however, i really enjoyed the time we got to spend together this Christmas. it was really special to me. most of our time was spent in the kitchen, which was great. i learned a lot. you know someone who had to cook for 4 children...let alone one of those children being shane, the bottomless pit martin, knows a thing or two in the kitchen.

waiting on Santa to come
it has become a tradition for shane and i to head over to the other martin's house and help wait for santa to arrive with gifts for our niece and nephew. usually i'll help my SIL (see previous explanation) prepare brunch for the next day in the kitchen...which most of the time consists of me reading the recipe card to her and opening a bottle of wine, but we'll call that help. while we're doing that, the boys eagerly await for santa's arrival while watching the 24 hours of the movie a Christmas story. because of the adoption, this tradition had a different feel for both shane and i. it gave us something to really look forward to....and also a bit of a reality check. we need to savor being able to go to bed whenever and to wake up whenever. having a child means all of that will change. goodbye peaceful slumber...hello sleep depravity!! truly, it's a small price to pay and it will be a labor of love. i can't wait to be a zombie!!

DG
(i'm full of acronyms today)
DG is what we call shane's dad. unfortunately, we see shane's dad about once a year for a couple of hours. he lives in south florida (bless his poor heart) which makes seeing each other difficult. regardless, DG is always good for a big hearty laugh and a bear hug! he has had some health trouble this year and we are so thankful to God that he has been able to come through. it was great to see him even if it was only for a couple of hours.

the epic journey for rotel tomatoes
you know when you are craving something so bad and it feels like nothing else will satisfy? for me, that was sausage and cream cheese dip. what makes this dip so fabulous? rotel tomatoes. when did i get this brilliant idea? about 6 pm on Christmas night. oh yeah....something will be open. my poor, sweet, loving mother indulged her daughter's desire for cheese dip and thus the quest for rotel tomatoes began. we hit gas station after gas station. we had the door closed on us at walgreens. even wal-mart was closed. alas, it seemed cheese dip was not in the cards for us that night and we went home. while it seemed like a pointless, wild goose chase (which it was actually) i was able to make a great memory with my mother, which to me is priceless. by the way...we went to the grocery store the next day and my craving was satisfied.

a low country boil
on the 26th night we had a low country boil at my parent's house. my dad, who as of late has become a culinary genius (who knew), worked hard to put it all together. we had shrimp, crab, potatoes, corn...it was amazing. unfortunately, it was a little too much on the spicy side for mom, so we'll have to make sure to watch that in the future so she can enjoy too. needless to say, we were up to our elbows in yummy goodness. i had to take shane outside and hose him off. okay so that didn't happen, but only because it was too cold outside. the meal was rounded out by consuming mass quantities of pumpkin pie made by yours truly. it was a great meal and a great memory!

sorry for the length of this post. in fact if you are still reading this i'm very impressed because i'm really not that interesting. big hugs for caring this much about my life!! seriously, there were some great memories i have from this Christmas. i hope you made some wonderful memories with your family as well.

peace, love and Merry Christmas!