McCollum Christmas

We had a bit of a whirlwind trip to North and South Carolina this year for Christmas.  Rachel got sent home from school early the day before school got out with Bronchitis and Dustin had a sinus infection. So when school got out on Thursday we loaded the car up (after a few delays) and headed to Smith Mountain Lake to see Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Jeanette for the night.  On the way there, we got a phone call from our realtor saying that we got an offer on our house!  There were a lot of phone calls made during that trip (thank goodness for cell phones!)  So we got to the lake and it turned out that only Aunt Jeanette was there because their dog had some major health issues and Ronnie stayed with it in Greensboro close to the vet.  We felt awful that we took Jeanette away from them, but she assured us that it was okay.  We had a wonderful relaxing time despite Rachel being a little cranky because of being sick, and Jeanette taking Dustin to the club house office to use the printer so we could get paperwork for the house taken care of!

The next morning we headed to Nannie and Papa's house to visit for a bit and of course Fuzzy's BBQ.  (and some more paperwork for the house)  While we were there, Rachel and Dustin started to feel better, while I started feeling a little under the weather.  We had a good time visiting, and in a bittersweet turn, got to spend a little extra time with them because Papa Puckett came down with a stomach bug and they said we probably shouldn't go to their house with the kids.  We visited Grandma Roberts a little while before heading to Katie and Benji's for the night.  

Rachel loved playing the piano and the drum set at their house!  It was great to see their house all put together and spend some good quality time with them.  (I felt bad because I wasn't much company since I was full-blown sick at this point)

So the next Morning (Saturday) we headed to Florence and had an amazing Christmas lunch that Dustin's mom made for us all.  Then we had our McCollum family Christmas!  Rachel was a little beyond excited about every part!  Gavin is pretty chill at the moment, so he just kind of went with it.  

The kids got a basketball hoop from Uncle Benji and Aunt Katie!

Rachel couldn't wait to get on her princess bike!

Gavin was excited about his bike, too!

One of Rachel's activities on the Advent calendar was to make a birthday cake for Jesus.  She and Grandma had a great time making the cake and decorating it!

The best part is licking the icing off the spatula!

We all may have gotten Dad M. woodworking books, and we may have previewed them and marked what we wanted him to make!  (I'm looking forward to my end table)

I wish we were all healthy and feeling 100% while there, but we still had a great time!  So glad we were able to spend some time with everyone!