December is always a fun month, but this year it was even better. Not only did we celebrate Sarah's birthday, but we experienced our first Christmas as a married couple... which of course means three family Christmas celebrations and a lot of traveling. It was so exciting to decorate our first Christmas tree together. We got to hang "Our First Christmas" ornaments. Those are the kind of memories we will cherish forever, since we'll only have one first Christmas together. To document this milestone in our lives, we decided to take pictures of each Christmas tree we saw. Unfortunately, our cat, Hemingway, couldn't travel with us for the holiday, but we were able to get a picture of him with us in front of our tree.
On December 23rd, we left for Alabama to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with David's family. For his mom's side of the family (the Bolich clan), everyone gathers at Uncle David's house. Uncle David is an amazing cook... rather, chef. You never know what he is going to make, but there's always some sort of tasty confection baking when the family arrives. Christmas Eve is always the prep day for the big Christmas dinner, and it is also Aunt Claudia's birthday. Uncle David prepared a feast for Christmas day... turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes... the works. After the Christmas dinner, it was present time. For the Bolich family, it's a tradition to have a different family member play Santa Claus. As the newest member of the family, Sarah was unanimously voted to assume this role. David was the elf. Check out those hats. What a statement!!
After opening presents with the Bolich family, Mama and Papa Senn, Mary Catherine and the two of us, drove just down the road to see the Senns. Grandma and Grandpa Senn made a tree out of a sassafras branch. Grandpa spray painted it white, and Grandma decorated it with stockings that she made for each of us. What a great idea! We really enjoyed spending time with the Senn family. Being out in the rural country of Alabama can be a refreshing break, especially when you live in a city like Jacksonville.
We left early on the morning of December 26th in route to Winter Haven to visit Sarah's parents. Barksdale family Christmases are different from most because Sarah's family is so small. Granny and Pappy were once again able to fly down from Cleveland to join us for all the festivities. It's certainly a nice treat to see them when we can, being that they live so far away. We were able to spend the next few days with Sarah's family before heading back to Jacksonville.
So we survived the holidays... we spent a lot of time in the car together, and we were able to visit with many of our family members. A married couple's second Christmas isn't usually considered a tremendous landmark, but for us it will be. It will be another year when we get to spend time with our family members, and we'll get to decorate our Christmas tree together once again.
