Christmas 2006

As most of you know we had quite a long Christmas holiday. We stayed in New Orleans well after Christmas just to see our Tigers play in the Sugar Bowl! Thank goodness they won because if not it would have been a LONG ride home!

Here's the long & short of our trip......

We were very excited to visit with our friends on the Northshore who we hadn't seen in quite a while. Our first day in town we spent the afternoon with the Ceravolo's and had dinner with the Angerdina's and Riddell's. William was with girls all day! Between all 3 familes there were 5 girls! He was a trooper and stayed pretty calm all day. We had such a nice time visiting with everyone.

William & Elizabeth

Baby Ava

Sweet Addison!

Addison stole my heart the second we walked in. She came right over to me and wanted me to pick her up. She gave me lots of love and enjoyed every second! (I don't know why the pics that were taken vertical are rotating when uploaded--sorry!)

Karly & William

Emerson & Karly

William & the girls!

Friday night Meme & Papaw took William to City Park. Michael & I met them there to see the lights and go through Storyland. It had rained all day so things were quite wet. It was really nice to see the park packed with people. Before Dad & Louise left the house they gave William a present. It was a big snow globe with Mickey & Minnie Mouse. William insisted that he take it with him in the car. On the way home Michael and I could see the globe all lit up in the back seat of the car with William's nose pressed against it. It plays several Christmas Carols but William insists that there is only one Christmas song. He presses the button until "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" comes on. As far as he's concerned that's the only Christmas song.

Michael & William on the Pirate's Ship in Storyland
William & Papaw in Storyland

Smoochie Sandwich

The Snow Globe!

Early Saturday morning we got up to go the Audubon Zoo with the Lipani's. It was so nice to spend time with our nieces, Ellie and Sarah. It was a beautiful day! I wish we all lived a little closer so we could spend more time together.

Melinda & Sarah

William & Michael coming down Monkey Hill

(still can't get the picture to stop rotating!)

William & a Sea Turtle

William & Ellie feeding the giraffes

After the zoo we headed across the lake to visit my Mom. My Mom & Stepdad were staying with my Granny. It has been a really long time since I've gotten to visit with my Granny, Aunt Cindy & Uncle Rick. We had a great evening! It was a very fun, long, but exhausting day!

William & Granny

William was loving on this fake dog at my Grannys!

Nothing like eating ice cream with Grammy!

Once we got back to my Dad's house it was time to get ready for Santa. He was making a special visit for William on Christmas Eve morning. Of course he got too much, but the big hits were his Thomas the Train table and Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Later that evening we had Christmas Eve dinner. Michael, Christy and Dawn came over to celebrate with us. We cut up and had a lot of fun as usual!

Meme & Papaw helped Santa put together William's train table

Mr. Conductor all dressed for Christmas

Michael & his favorite Aunt Christy!

The next morning we got up and headed over to the Lipani's to celebrate Christmas Day! The kids were a bit overwhelmed with all of Santa's presents! Minnie's harmonicas were a big hit with William & Ellie. After lunch we had more of Michael's family over to visit. Again, we had a great day visiting with everyone!

My beautiful niece, Sarah

Ellie and William are adorable together

William loves his harmonica!

When all else fails- pull out the bubbles!

The day after Christmas was the day for me to visit my Mom and spend time with my step family. Unfortunately, I woke up with a stomach bug! I felt horrible. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that I had the courage to leave the house and head across the lake. Our visit was cut short due to my misery. William had a hard time leaving because for the first time since we got to New Orleans he got to play with little boys! My Mom's nephews were there and William loved being rough with them. I don't have many pics, but I also got to visit with my pregnant step-sister and pregnant sister-in-law. They are 2 of the cutest pregnant people I have ever seen-- tiny too!

Mom & Michael

William & Evan

William, Jordan & Evan

This was only the first half of our trip! Michael and I were able to go to the Saint's game, the casino, out to dinner and hang out with friends. As usual, we can never fit everything in no matter how much time we have in town.

One of William's favorite nights was New Year's Eve! Dad didn't know how much William would like fireworks so he only bought a few rockets and tanks. To say William was excited is an understatement! He loved it so much that his Papaw got up early the next morning and made another trip across the river to find more rockets!

Last but not least we went to the Sugar Bowl! As you can see we had William all decked out! (He found this LSU pen that played the fight song. He kept playing it over and over!)