Christmas Eve at the Conerly's

This is how we hoped the day would start with breakfast and cartoons instead of a power outage.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun....Abby and Macy Ryan with their Christmas loot

Addison excited about her gift from Mammaw and Pappaw

Carrying a box bigger than she is.

Looks so sweet and innocent, but truth is he thieved those drumsticks from his cousin Lydia's new toy.

Ever since I was a baby, we have celebrated Christmas Eve at my Mammaw and Pappaw Conerly's house with all of my dad's family. Keep in mind that my dad is one of six children which makes for a large family. Not to mention that my grandparents' house is not that large...one bathroom to be exact. Nonetheless, it's joyful chaos with little ones ripping into wrapping paper and adults complaining that they've eaten too much, but most of all a room filled with the true spirit of Christmas. Our Christmas Eve started out a little different this year though. We woke up around 7:30. I was just about to get up and fix the kids breakfast and start cooking a long list of things when we heard a loud pop and everything went black. We called Entergy and they estimated that our power would be restored by 10 a.m. Fair enough..I could live with that. I gave the kids a bath in the dark (thanks to our gas hot water heater we did have hot water) and started getting things together, but 10 a.m. came and went and still no power. Called Entergy back and they gave a new estimated time of 3:15. What?? With that, I had to pack up almost my entire pantry (in the dark, mind you) and take to my mom and dad's to do all my cooking along with the kids' and my clothes that needed ironing before that evening and the presents that we needed for Christmas Eve. Did I mention it was raining cats and dogs when we were trying to unload all of this at my parents' house? Not fun! Talk about suck the Christmas spirit right out of you! But, we pushed on and made it to my grandparents' house in one piece and quickly recuperated. The kids had a great time and everyone ate too much as usual! And, I must have been tired from all the excitement of the day because I didn't take very many pics, but here are a few.