Sweet Sofia: Christmas at GiGi and Great Harry's

One of the biggest blessings that Jimmy, Sofia, and I have here in Dallas is our extended family. When we decided to move here after we got married, I knew that having my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle here would make it alot easier to adjust, but I never realized what a huge difference it would make in our lives. They do so much for us, and I am not sure how we would function here without them. The best part of having family here is how much they love Sofia. It means so much to me to have people here who want Sofia to be happy and who are willing to babysit her, who invite us over to dinner and spend the whole evening holding her, who delight in her happiness and who spend lots of time loving on her. We miss my mom and dad and Jimmy's mom so much, and I wish that Sofia was getting to know her grandparents more, but I am so thankful that she is getting to know her Gigi and Great Harry and Aunt Jan and Uncle Randy.

Last night we had our first Christmas celebration and it was a blast. Sofia was so little last year that we didn't do much for Christmas, so this was her first real taste of the season. We went to Gigi and Great Harry's house in the afternoon and spent lots of time outside. It was a beautiful day, so we were able to just play and play in the yard. Sofia loved playing with GiGi's big blue ball, watching the puppies run around, looking at Great Harry's reindeer in the front lawn and getting LOTS of attention from everyone. After a yummy dinner, we put on Elmo's Christmas Countdown for Sofia to watch while everyone opened presents. The hight light of my night was the gift that Aunt Jan and Uncle Randy gave to Sofia. Every year on Christmas Eve Harry would read The Night Before Christmas to my brothers and me. My mom even has a picture of him reading to us all in our Christmas P.J.'s. Jan found a recordable version of the book and recorded Harry reading the book to Sofia. It was such a moving present and something that I am so happy I will have for my children to listen to every Christmas Eve!