The Lukers~ Life is Lovely: God Bless Us, Every One!

I took a few days off from the blog over the holidays to enjoy my family and we had a wonderful time. We are truly so blessed with our loving family, and all the blessings that Jesus has so graciously bestowed upon us. We are so lucky in not only our family life, but that we are warm, fed, and have all the things that help us to enjoy life. Being with family and celebrating Jesus is what Christmas is all about to us; and we did enjoy being with our loved ones. I had made a lot of the gifts we gave this year, including a scrapbook of the wedding for each of our moms. They each took me about twelve hours to make, and they were a labor of love! I was very excited for everyone to open their gifts; giving is my favorite part of Christmas! On Christmas Eve, Will and I went to his sister's house to celebrate with her, our nephew, and his mom. I just love when Will's mom Susie comes to town. She is a lot of fun and we are close. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother in law. We started the evening off with a delicious roast beef dinner that Susie prepared for us, and then Devin passed out our "VIP" tickets to the formal living room with the tree and all the presents. Susie loves to spoil us and she kept up the tradition this year with a load of presents under the tree. Will had gotten the golf clubs he has so desperately been wanting since we got married, and I am so happy for him. He didn't have any hobbies before we met, and now he has taken up duck hunting and golf, which I hope are both lifetime loves for him. He was so thrilled with his clubs and has been so excited to put them to use. Susie added to my wedding china and also bought me some Viva La Juicy, which I've been dying for since I ran out a few months ago. Devin also gave the baby a Scentsy warmer for her nursery along with some Huggies wipes and Pampers newborn diapers. They were so tiny! I couldn't get over them! So crazy to imagine our baby fitting into something so small. It was so sweet of him to think of his new baby cousin on Christmas. We also received stockings stuffed to the brim of all the lotion, gum, Scentsy bars, and fun knick knacks we could want. We played some games and enjoyed each other's company, and it was finally time to head home to wait for Santa's arrival.
The next morning I awoke at 5:45 am. "Hmmmm," I thought. I could've totally gotten up then, but I looked over at Will and knew this would be the last Christmas that he ever got to rest until a decent hour. I decided to let it slide until about 7:20 when I couldn't contain myself any longer. We came downstairs to our gifts under the tree and took turns opening each one. Of course we got each other Christmas cards and those always mean the most because I love what Will always writes inside each card he gives me. I gave him a lot of his golfing accessories, some books he had wanted, a new Bible, and an Avery mud bag for his waders. He gave me an iHome alarm clock (we didn't even have an alarm clock in our room! I thought I might need to know what time it was when the baby wakes up during the night. This was the gift that I thought the camera was on my birthday), a platter for our wedding china, a pedometer I had been wanting (it also tracks calories!), a mommy charm from James Avery, and the sweetest thing was the softest pink blanket for the baby with an owl on it. It is so cute and I have a feeling that will be her baby blanket that goes everywhere with us.
Next, on to my parents house for Round 3! We loaded up the truck and headed on over to their home in Sienna Point. My brother and Aunt Sandi were already there, and we had another big to-do with presents (are we blessed, or what?) I was thrilled to get even more wedding china (trying to finish this collection, and it's going to take several holidays and birthdays), the new book with Jacqueline Kennedy's interviews about life with Jack (the Kennedys are somewhat of an obsession my dad passed down to me), and the blue box that makes every woman squeal with delight: a pair of Tiffany sunglasses. I didn't have any black sunglasses and I've been wearing my favorite pair of Prada's for years, so it was nice to get some new shades. Will got new hunting clothes (no more hand me downs!), a new golf glove, hunting accessories, and jeans (which he was really excited about, seriously. Poor boy needed some new Levi's!). Grant even gave the baby her first BB gun-- really. A pink Daisy BB gun. It looks like she'll be getting into the "family biz" of hunting sooner than I thought. I think we'll just prop it up in the corner for a few years until she's old enough to learn about it. But it was really cute and thoughtful! We enjoyed our lunch, our friend Mark came over, and before I knew it, my dad was whisking my husband away to the duck lease. I had no idea they were going so early, but my mom and I had fun spending the night together anyway. This was our last Christmas as just a married couple and next year it will be all about the baby, which it should be; so I really enjoyed my last Christmas to be the spoiled one. It's going to be a whole new ball game the next time the holidays roll around. Which, I almost forgot! One last present my parents got for Will: a Santa suit. Hahaha! It has been my dad's for a really long time, since Grant and I were little, and they have kept it in really good condition. It's a nice Santa suit, if there can be such a thing. So they thought they would pass it down to Will; wig, boot covers, hat, gloves, and all. He says he's going to actually wear it, too. Lord, I hope Baby Girl never creeps down the stairs on Christmas Eve. She really may catch Mommy kissing Santa Claus!