On Friday I headed down to the Atlanta area to join Mandee for Christmas. We met up at Mike and Melissa’s for a wonderful dinner crafted by Melissa and Mandee (Although Mike and Mandee’s mom laid claim to the fixin’s)… YUM! Eric definitely had a little too much holiday spirit and Saturday morning was a slow start for me. We then went to David and Angie’s for Christmas Eve festivities and again, had a spendid meal and company. I got to meet more of the extended family. The real surprise of the evening was given to Mandee’s mom. She was given a little scroll from Angel and when she unrolled it, we (and most of the neighborhood) heard “We’re having a baby!!” Hahaa… Angel and Jason are expecting a bundle of joy in the Summer and everyone is so excited. Best present for sure! Sunday morning was present opening at Mike and Melissa’s beautiful home. I received lots of great goodies as did everyone else. Mandee got me a great trenchcoat that I’ve been wanting and her big gift was a first Edition version of Julia Child’s Art of French Cooking. Then we were off to Granny D’s (I mean Mandee’s mom).

We had a relaxing day and a half there and dinner with Angel and Jason as well. It was nice to relax a bit. Mandee made a fantastic dinner (even though I forgot half the ingredients at Mike and Melissa’s… that’s how I roll). Then we started the long drive back to Knoxville.

Tuesday we went to my sister and brother-in-law’s house for what was expected to be a lighter lunch…I, of course, ended up in a chair asking someone to cut the stack cake and buckeyes out of my stomach to bring me some relief. My sister’s big gift to Mandee and I was a 2-year project she had been working on. A 3-volume collection of our family’s favorite recipies. What a great treasure.

So all-in-all it was one of the best holidays ever! Now, it’s time to eat healthily and get 2012 started!!
(sorry about the weird image rotation problem in this post)