Christmas with the Smith's

I really can't believe Christmas has come and gone. We didn't even get into the spirit until Christmas Eve (when we saw the Smith's tree) because we didn't put up a tree this year. I know, I know. How Scroogish! I really do love Christmas, but we were back and forth from our house to our new house LITERALLY every day for the past few weeks, and weren't in one place long enough to enjoy any decorations, so we decided not to bother. I don't know that we would have had time to decorate even if we had decided to!

This was my first Christmas away from my home in Greenville. It was the first time I didn't hear my dad read the story of Christmas from the Bible, and the first time I wasn't awakened by him busting into my room and singing very loudly. I missed my family, but am so thankful that my parents are so supportive of their children venturing out and living our lives. We have established the "every other year" pattern, so we'll be there next year.
Having said that, our Christmas here in Columbia with John's parents was wonderful. They made me feel right at home, of course, and absolutely SPOILED us. We went to church Christmas Eve, and I got to hear the Christmas story from the Bible after all! We had a wonderful dinner Christmas Eve and an even better lunch on Christmas Day! Gotta love the holidays! (too bad they are 4 months before our wedding...kinda hard to keep a healthy diet going!)