A Pop Family Christmas

Boy Pop and Santa, Early December

This year, Christmas was spent as we do every year… Boy Pop gets picked up by my parents on December 22nd, and they, along with my older brother, all head down to my grandmother's house. I worked during the week of Christmas this year because I took my vacation the week before in Colorado. So Dr Pop and I left as soon as I got off work on the 24th and headed down to meet everyone at my Mema's house.

About two hours after we arrived, we all loaded up into our cars and went to the annual Christmas Eve service at the First Baptist Church. We have been going to the service every year since they started it back in 1993.*

*Last year was the exception to the rule because Mema had just come home from the hospital. None of us were up to going anywhere that night.

At a really cool micro-brewery in Edwards, CO.

After church, we all went to my cousin's house for a Christmas Eve meal. Stuffed silly, we went back to Mema's house to prepare for the big day. My mom and I got into a bit of a tiff (we'd been snarky on and off since Dr Pop and I arrived earlier that day) and it didn't really end that well. Thankfully, I had been reminded to bring Ambien with me, so I took one and fell into a blissful, uninterrupted, dreamless sleep, waking up refreshed bright and early on Christmas morning by my dog. After coffee, we sent Bubba in to wake up Boy Pop, who I guess did not recognize that he was supposed to be the first one up in the house, not the last! Didn't he realize that we were waiting to see his excitement?

I really thought this sign was funny, since it was a sledding hill in CO.

He got more presents than he should have.

Then we had breakfast and my mom and I made up.

Some time was spent playing with toys and showers, etc. and all of a sudden it was time for lunch. We all walked across the street to my aunt's house (yeah, my grandmother, aunt, uncle, one cousin, his wife and two kids all live in the same small town) to have lunch. Post lunch, Dr Pop, Boy Pop, and I packed up the car and drove back to our house.

Because he gets so many toys from relatives on Christmas morning, we have our own celebration (just the three of us) in the afternoon at our house. Santa comes to both places (he gets a stocking at Mema's house and the big gifts are at our house). Boy Pop was so excited to see that Santa had been there (as he always is) and he looked up the chimney to see if he'd left any other evidence of his visit behind. Santa decided to leave gifts in a stocking at our house, too, and boy, was our son ever excited!

And then he got to the big gifts! Wow. There is hardly any walking room in our playroom right now. Yes, I know my son is spoiled, but at least he isn't rotten.

All-in-all it was a lovely Christmas. Boy Pop picked out some gorgeous earrings to give me (with lots of help from his father). Dr Pop and I received some Christmas money from family, and I promptly spent most of mine on clothes even though I'd considered spending most of it on Botox, but that's another story for another day.