Christmas Day in Georgia

Since we planned on spending Christmas with our family in North Carolina, Santa made an early stop at our house to give Garrett his presents. He was such a good boy this year!

Justin and I invited a group of our friends over to my sister's house this past Thanksgiving holiday. It was so good to see everyone and finally introduce Garrett to all our friends. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Laura, Mindy, Garrett, and Courtney

Garrett wasn't the only baby there!

Heather and Reagan on the left... Jamie and our little nephew/niece on the right

(we will find out at the first of the year!!)
Garrett loved all the ladies!

Tasha and Laura

Here's a group shot of most of the girls...I never got around to getting one of all the guys :(

Oh Christmas Tree

Since our house in now up for sale, we debated on whether or not to put up our Christmas tree this year. We know how important it is to keep things depersonalized and spacious when potential home buyers come to view your home. As bad as we want to hurry up and sell our house, this IS my baby's first Christmas. I know I would regret it if I couldn't get a picture of my boy under his Christmas tree!!!

Garrett decided he would grab a quick nap while daddy did the hard part.

(moms-to-be, don't spoil your baby like I do and hold him while he naps...you'll never get anything done...aww, but how could I put this angel down??)

What's better than a pre-lit tree?? Nothing, that's what!

Garrett was such a big help. He insisted on placing the star on top.

He was so thoughtful and meticulous about where each ornament should go.

"No Mama, that one needs to be higher"

My Mama has a picture of me in this very same pose playing with this very same ornament 27 years ago :)

I was tagged by Carrie to do this a week ago and I am just now getting around to doing it.

Here are the rules:

1. choose the 4th picture folder on your computer

2. choose the 4th picture

3. explain the picture

4. tag at least 4 people to do the same

This is a picture of me and my daddy when I was, oh I don't know, about 2 or 3-years-old. Growing up in a family of hunters, dead animals were a big part of my childhood and never seemed to bother us or gross us out. It was always a good thing when our daddy came home with dead animals. I mean, it was tradition for us to celebrate with a pan of freshly baked brownies each time my daddy killed a deer! Looking at this photo, I don't know what is crazier...the fact that I am less than an arms stretch from my daddy's gun or that I am sitting on a dead animal and stroking a living animal simultaneously!

Let's see, I am going to tag...

1. Jamie Harrison

2. Laura Vandiford

3. Beth Hyland

4. Karen Moore

Don't let me down girls...come on, it's fun!!

This past Thanksgiving was our first trip home since Garrett's birth. There were so many people for him to meet. First and foremost, Garrett needed to meet our dads.

Garrett and my daddy "Poppy Toby"

Three generations of Harrison men! Poppy Jerry, Garrett, and Justin...you can see where my baby gets his blue eyes from
I stayed with my sister the majority of the trip and Garrett was able to bond with his Uncle TJ Evans
He loved the way Aunt Rainy's finger tasted...

and he said Uncle Richard sure knows how to BBQ some chicken!!

He played with cousin Jason and Mandy

(I'll have to get a picture of her at Christmas)

Cousin Andrew couldn't wait to get his hands on Garrett

Garrett and my good friend "Auntie" Leslie

This is Garrett and Mrs. Laura. He can't wait till little Gracie comes out so he can play with her!

Garrett seemed to really like Mrs. Heather. I think she reminded him of his Aunt Mindy...he does love a brunette :)

Thanksgiving

Justin and I both have huge families that we love very much and try to see as often as possible when we come home to visit. Sometimes it seems like we spend most of Thanksgiving in our vehicle traveling from one house to another trying to squeeze in as many visits as possible. We started the day off with a huge lunch at my Aunt Iris's house. A few hours later, we drove over to Justin's Aunt Kay's so Garrett could meet all his daddy's side of the family. We stopped by my Aunt Lorraine's for literally a second so I could hug my daddy's neck and then it was off to Justin's mom's for dinner. Everyone cooks and wants us to eat when we get there. By Thanksgiving evening, we are always miserably full.

Here are a few pics of our busy day.

Aunt Mindy feeding Garrett his Thanksgiving meal by the

"Turkey Tree".
Garrett and Grandma LaVerne
Garrett with two of his cousins, Bethany and Rachel.
Chatting with Aunt Addie.

We are finally back home after a wonderful 2 week visit to North Carolina. It was Garrett's first visit to NC. I have so many pictures to post and will do so once I get back into the swing of things

(and tackle that huge pile of laundry calling my name).

We surprised my momma by attending her wedding on November 14th. She didn't think we would make it because it was scheduled so close to Thanksgiving. You can check out those pictures by visiting this website:

http://heltsleyphotography.com/watts_wedding