Christmas 2011

This was our 2nd Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. Kissel! Jake and I celebrated our little Christmas a week early. We spent the whole day together on Saturday the 17th - We went shopping for clothes for Jake (along with all of the last minute Christmas shoppers), had a nice dinner together, ate some cookies, exchanged gifts, and watched a Christmas Carol. We got each other new watches and we love them!! Yay!

Our cute little tree in our town house:

A few days later, we packed the car and headed to Knoxville to visit friends and family. We spent 4 great days in Knoxville with Mom and Dad, Seth and Emily, Caleb, and Grandma & Grandpa Haney. Then we spent a few days in Southern Ohio with the family, Sarah Lou, and Grandma and Grandpa Mills. Since we are all spread out all over the country, I never feel like we have enough time together when we visit!!

I love the family photos we took in Knoxville:

Above photo: Jake and I with my parents, brothers, and sister-in-law

Below photo: My immediate family + Grandma and Grandpa Haney

Grandma and Grandpa Haney:

Mama and her boys:

Seth and Emily:

Siblings!

Jake and I brought Alice (the cat) with us. She seems to really like traveling in the car and exploring new places. I wasn't sure how she would do with my parent's pets and all the new smells - but she was great and I'm glad she wasn't home alone for a week (how boring!).

  

I love my cat (as you can tell). She's so photogenic!

Zach, Catherine and Baby Mallory were also in town visiting Catherine's family. It was so good to see them on Christmas Eve day! They came over for breakfast with the Haney's.

Dad holding sweet Mallory:

Stuffing Balls are a family favorite and the recipe has been passed down from my Grandma's Grandma. They TRIPLED the Stuffing Balls recipe and didn't have a bowl big enough to contain the ingredients. This is what they used to mix the stuffing...

That's a lot of stuffing!

Grandma and Mom made a delicious Christmas dinner!

We all love playing cards and games together. You could find us almost every evening gathered around the table with a deck of cards.

We opened gifts and went to church on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day Grandma and Grandpa Haney flew back the their home in Fort Myers, FL and we all packed our cars and drove to Southern Ohio to visit the Mills'.

Love this picture of the whole family!

Mom, Sarah Lou, Grandma and Grandpa

Dad and Jake hanging out after we opened gifts

We are so blessed! So glad we got to be with family for Christmas.