Mama's Sweet Peas: Levings' Family Christmas

Okay, first of all.....I am way behind in getting my blog posts caught up. So sorry for all these entries. I still have a few more to go to get caught up, so hang in there with me.

Secondly, I got a new camera for Christmas - thanks to QVC and Easy Pay. They got me - hook, line and sinker. So let me set the stage of what made me pull the trigger. They got me the night my beloved O-State Cowboys lost to Iowa State. I was crushed, and what makes me feel better.....retail therapy. But what is open at midnight? QVC is! Channel 23. And what did they happen to be showing???? The EXACT camera I had been doing a lot of research on. I already knew which camera I was going to buy - and this was it. I was just trying to make it to Black Friday to find out who had the better deals - and actually - I even knew the Black Friday deals thanks to a squealer website, so I really was just waiting on Black Friday to arrive. But then OVC stepped in and offered the same deal I was going to get on Black Friday without me having to step into a dreadful store on that dreadful day. So when I found out I could do Easy Pay and get it shipped to my house for free before Thanksgiving - I was in.

So what does all this mean? Well, it means I know NOTHING about my camera, except to keep it on automatic and let it do the thinking and the work - and so far - I LOVE IT. I love getting these awesome face shots of subject matter that I hold dearest to my heart - my family.

Back to Christmas.....we celebrated the Levings' side of Christmas on Saturday, December 17th. We certainly haven't spent a lot of time together this year, so it is always such a joy to get together. It's crazy and chaotic, but it's expected, so anything less would be disappointing. This year my oldest niece asked Me Ma if her boyfriend could come with her. This must be true love, because this boy not only survived the day, he fit in really well. Ahhh...cute. Our little Mak is growing up.

And we also celebrated Courtney's 13th birthday a few days early. 13? Say it isn't so. The kids are just growing up so fast. So after an afternoon and early evening of munching on yummy dips, chocolate, and having the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs.....it was time for opening presents. And unfortunately, in our now annual Dirty Elephant game (yes, that's right - I didn't mess up the words - that is what us Levings' call our game), I didn't capture any pictures from it because I was too busy playing.....so next year, I have to step back a minute and capture pictures of our game madness!

Here we go....pictures of some happy kids opening their presents, and one VERY sweet 1st Christmas for Ryan James, who managed to nap through most of the madness, and then wake up to have his own special time. And these pictures loaded out of order.......so I did my best to explain each one.