Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays

Greetings! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas with loved ones! We spend the holiday with the Bakers in Mobile. We got to town late Thursday evening & we immediately went to meet up with some of JD's friends from high shool: Jon, Brian, Stig, Sneul. It ended up being an early night after our waiter accidently spilled someone's drink all over me, my cell phone, & my new purse - lovely :(

The next morning we all were pretty lazy - we did get out to run a couple of last minute grocery store errands & had lunch at JD's favorite Mobile bbq joint, Saucy Q's (yummmm). Once we got back to the house, Pam & Katie started cooking / baking for that evening's family celebration. Katie made Nan's *famous* chocolate cake & the Bottega mac & cheese - both were excellent! I "helped" Johnny fry the oysters & chicken fingers (a family tradition)later that night. Luna & Benny were a big help too, especially when Johnny accidently dropped any batter :)

Every year on Christmas Eve, the Baker / Modling clan gets together for a dinner of fried oysters (with other assorted goods), followed by exchanging of presents with the extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins). Growing up in my family, we always waited & exchanged gifts on Christmas day, but it is nice to break it up & be able to be with lots of family during the holidays.

After the family left, we cleaned up the kitchen & got ready for Santa!! JD, Katie, & I always get to open one gift on Christmas Eve from Pam & Johnny - our Christmas pajamas!! This year there was a special surprise under the tree from Santa to all the pups (Wilson, Tanner, Sadie, Luna, & Benny - yes, we did Christmas with 5 dogs) - CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS!!! Here is a picture I got of JD with our pups in their new pajamas: (too precious)



Christmas Day was so nice & relaxing this year - usually JD & his band (Doubt of the Benefit) play a Christmas-Day-night show at Soul Kitchen, but this year they weren't able to do it as the drummer wasn't going to be in town. This was the first time in 6 years (since I started dating JD) that the guys didn't do the Christmas show & although we missed hearing them, it was so nice to be able to relax & enjoy the holiday & time with family. We spent most of the day tinkering with the new Christmas goods : Katie got GLEE kareoke for the Wii, I got a new CAMERA with a carrying case & tri-pod from the hubbs (someone was reading my blog, possibly?), & JD got a beer home-brewing kit!! I think JD was more excited about that than the rest of us put together - he can't wait to start brewing & have a party at the house for his first batch (um, it makes 5 gallons people - come thirsty!!)!



Here are a few more pictures from Christmas at the Bakers - I'm trying out the new camera, so they aren't too great...







Later that evening JD's friends Brian & Charles (in from NYC)came to visit & see the Bakers new house. We ended up going downtown with them to see some other folks & JD's friend Stig was DJ'ing at Boo Radley's. As you can imagine, this ended up being a later night than anticipated, but it was good to see old friends!

Sunday we loaded up the car & the pups & headed back to Birmingham. On the way home we reflected about the holiday (which we started celebrating a couple of weeks ago wiht the Goodroes) & thought about how belssed we are to have such a great network family & friends who love & support us in all we do.

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas holiday & we wish you the very best in 2011!!