On Christmas Eve Eve, we enjoyed Christmas snacks...
and then looked at some Christmas lights...
We saw several impressive set-ups...
and some not so impressive set-ups (like this lit up Rebel)!
Christmas morning, we woke up early...
and opened presents.Toula got her present first...
She had to check everything out...
I think that Toula has been paying closer attention than we thought to all those football games Charles watches! 
We have a little football star on our hands! After playing with her toys, she checked out her new bed...
and got comfy...
She then jumped out to help me unwrap my presents...
I really liked all the Glee stuff Charles gave me!
He always gives the best presents!!
Then it was time for Charles to open his presents...
and Toula was a big help to him too!
She had fun playing in all the wrapping paper and ribbons too...
Toula wore herself out helping us with our presents, so she took a little break...
while Charles finished unwrapping his presents...
After all our presents were unwrapped, Charles cooked a delicious breakfast, and we tuned into the Christmas Story marathon.We then went to Mama and Jerry's for lunch. After a delicious lunch of chicken and dressing, turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, Irish potato casserole, butter beans, deviled eggs, pink salad, rolls and strawberry shortcake, it was time to open more presents...
Charles played Santa this year and handed out the presents...
I, as usual, got to open my presents first...
Mama and Jerry watched as I opened present...
after present!
Mama always does a very good job with the gifts too!
Mama then opened her presents...
and then Jerry opened his. He always likes getting these cookies!
Charles always wants to go last, so it finally was time for him to open his presents...
Since Charles enjoys Country Catfish so much, Jerry and Mama decided to wrap up sardines with a note telling Charles that he could have a fish dinner on them (a gift certificate to Country Catfish was under the tissue paper). They thought that this would be a funny little gag. It was funny, but they didn't get the reaction they were hoping for - Charles actually really likes sardines!
Since Charles wants money instead of presents, he always has fewer boxes to open, but he always gets exactly what he wants!
Charles had one more gift waiting for me at Mama and Jerry's...
t-shirts of South Panola's 6A Championship...
Charles's mom gave us our Christmas presents early this year - money so that we could take it to New York with us and a GPS. We are going to visit his family for Christmas this weekend.In addition to all the wonderful gifts I received from family, I also got the best gift from my great friend Molly!
I love Etta B pottery, and the bunny platter is just perfect for me! I have already found the perfect spot for it in our kitchen! 
It was so much fun! I drug myself away from the game so that we could drive the rest of the way to Nashville. We arrived at the Gaslight Theater early in the afternoon...
Thankfully, it wasn't really crowded, so after we picked up our tickets, we put on our parkas and walked right on in. We were so excited when we stepped into the cold and saw the first sculpture. We just had to get a picture of Chuck and Chuck!
We really liked Charlie Brown holding his little Charlie Brown tree. Charles and I have a little Charlie Brown tree that we used when we first got married. We put it up in our bedroom this year with our painted ornaments on it, and I feel just like Charlie Brown - it is the best little tree!
When we entered the first room, the music Lucy and Linus was playing - this is the music that plays during the movie when all the characters are dancing on stage, so I just had to do the little dance too!
Charles and I took our picture with Charlie Brown and Linus...
I really liked the scene with everyone ice skating, especially since Charles and I had so much fun ice skating this year!
And, of course, we had to take a picture of poor Charlie Brown not getting any Christmas cards...
It just amazes me how they can sculpt ice to look just like the scenes from the movie!
I love Etta B pottery, and the bunny platter is just perfect for me! I have already found the perfect spot for it in our kitchen!We enjoyed ICE! The Grinch Who Stole Christmas so much last year, and this year ICE! was featuring A Charlie Brown Christmas which I just love. So, as one of my Christmas presents, Charles gave me tickets to ICE! We left for Nashville the day after Christmas and had such a fun day trip!
We stopped for lunch a little less than an hour outside of Nashville. I enjoyed some delicious bar b que while Charles enjoyed the catfish plate...
After finishing our lunch, I just couldn't leave without playing a game (or three!) of Ms. Pac-Man!
After finishing our lunch, I just couldn't leave without playing a game (or three!) of Ms. Pac-Man!
It was so much fun! I drug myself away from the game so that we could drive the rest of the way to Nashville. We arrived at the Gaslight Theater early in the afternoon... Thankfully, it wasn't really crowded, so after we picked up our tickets, we put on our parkas and walked right on in. We were so excited when we stepped into the cold and saw the first sculpture. We just had to get a picture of Chuck and Chuck!
We really liked Charlie Brown holding his little Charlie Brown tree. Charles and I have a little Charlie Brown tree that we used when we first got married. We put it up in our bedroom this year with our painted ornaments on it, and I feel just like Charlie Brown - it is the best little tree!When we entered the first room, the music Lucy and Linus was playing - this is the music that plays during the movie when all the characters are dancing on stage, so I just had to do the little dance too!
Charles and I took our picture with Charlie Brown and Linus...I really liked the scene with everyone ice skating, especially since Charles and I had so much fun ice skating this year!And, of course, we had to take a picture of poor Charlie Brown not getting any Christmas cards...It just amazes me how they can sculpt ice to look just like the scenes from the movie!Charles decided to ask Lucy for some help!
I think she might need to charge more than five cents though!! :)
I think she might need to charge more than five cents though!! :)We then went into the Auditorium - the slide room. After waiting in line for a while, I slid down the ice (I'm the one on the right)...
It was so much fun!
It was so much fun!The Lucy and Linus music was playing in here too, so while Charles waited in line to slide, I took some pictures...
of all the characters playing their instruments...
and dancing...
Charles finally made it to the top and slid down fast...
I passed along the tips I learned last year from the little boy behind me in line on how to slide really fast. Charles implemented them this year and had a really great time!
I had to get my picture with Linus and his blanket before we left the Auditorium...
We then passed into the room were Linus was telling the Christmas Story...
That is one of our favorite parts of the movie...
We then entered a small room where Snoopy's doghouse all decorated for Christmas was replicated...
and we just had to have our picture taken in the doghouse...
We quickly came to the end and saw Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the beautiful Christmas tree...
with the Peanuts characters circling the outskirts of the room and singing...
I enjoyed seeing all of the characters. They had Sally, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Marcy and even a cute little Pig Pen...
Charles and I really enjoyed seeing all the scenes from A Charlie Brown Christmas in ICE!
After passing through this passage, we entered the room with the ICE nativity...
of all the characters playing their instruments...and dancing...Charles finally made it to the top and slid down fast...I passed along the tips I learned last year from the little boy behind me in line on how to slide really fast. Charles implemented them this year and had a really great time!I had to get my picture with Linus and his blanket before we left the Auditorium...We then passed into the room were Linus was telling the Christmas Story...That is one of our favorite parts of the movie...We then entered a small room where Snoopy's doghouse all decorated for Christmas was replicated...and we just had to have our picture taken in the doghouse...We quickly came to the end and saw Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the beautiful Christmas tree...with the Peanuts characters circling the outskirts of the room and singing...I enjoyed seeing all of the characters. They had Sally, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Marcy and even a cute little Pig Pen...Charles and I really enjoyed seeing all the scenes from A Charlie Brown Christmas in ICE!After passing through this passage, we entered the room with the ICE nativity...which is truly spectacular!
Before leaving, we had to take a picture of Charles in Snoopy's doghouse...
and another picture of Chuck with Chuck!
We then walked to the Opryland Hotel and walked around. Immediately upon entering the gardens, we saw a rabbit topiary...
We then walked through the Delta area...
and saw the huge Christmas tree...
and Nessie...
We walked through all of the areas and discussed the similarities and differences in the decorations from last year. We then saw the poinsettia tree...
which was beautiful again this year!
and another picture of Chuck with Chuck!We then walked to the Opryland Hotel and walked around. Immediately upon entering the gardens, we saw a rabbit topiary...We then walked through the Delta area...and saw the huge Christmas tree...and Nessie...We walked through all of the areas and discussed the similarities and differences in the decorations from last year. We then saw the poinsettia tree... which was beautiful again this year!I was excited that they put their elves out again this year!
They are just so cute! We enjoyed our walk around the hotel. However, we finished with our Nashville fun a little sooner than we thought we would. So instead of staying in Nashville for dinner, we headed back home and stopped in Jackson, TN for dinner at The Old Country Store...
They are just so cute! We enjoyed our walk around the hotel. However, we finished with our Nashville fun a little sooner than we thought we would. So instead of staying in Nashville for dinner, we headed back home and stopped in Jackson, TN for dinner at The Old Country Store...We had such a fun trip and such a wonderful Christmas! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too and have a Happy New Year!
