Tidwell Family Christmas 2022

The Tidwell Family Christmas celebration was a success!  We had 17 people here - our family plus Joey, Paw & Bmaw, Cloud's family plus Rita's mom, and Shade's family!  We had a blast sitting around the fire on Wednesday night, playing golf games and Whiffle ball and a scavenger hunt, eating SO MUCH food, lighting our candles, hearing the Christmas story, and opening presents.  It was great to be together!  

Matching dinosaur hoodies :)

Paw & Bmaw 

Candle lighting!

Caedmon & Brenden :)

A selfie from this scavenger hunt team!

Sneaking a kiss :)

Watching the scavenger hunt videos - hilarious!

Love that smile on my baby boy!

These two...

The Saran Wrap ball game was SO fun!  (Cambree came away with $30!)

Candle lighting :)

Love this staircase pic!  AJ, Cason, Brenden, Caedmon, Joey, Cambree, Andie, & Keysi

We opted for a non traditional Christmas meal - brisket, ribs, sausage, beans, squash casserole, Mac n cheese, baked potatoes, deviled eggs, broccoli salad, and homemade bread!

My silly dad came to say hey and check out the snack table!

Olga, Rita's sweet Mama

Grandma Marie popped (with Mama Dee!)over to say hi and grab some hot cocoa!

Yum!

Rarely do I think these two look alike, but here I can see it!

Whiffle ball!

The girls catching up!

My 3 plus one :)

Blu & Cloud

These two are pretty adorable, I have to admit!

Love me some Blu Tidwell..almost our 22nd wedding anniversary!

Hot cocoa bar!

A random outing with Cambree & Mama Dee for last minute presents!

Football for the boys!

The snack table!

Caedmon checking out Bmaw's book

Head rubs during Bible reading!

The TikTok challenge where you buy all the guys the same shirt to wear but don't tell them - it was SO funny!  Cloud got SO mad at Blu when he saw his shirt!  He was so confused and accused Blu of going to his suitcase and stealing his shirt! (He didn't have his on yet.) We laughed so hard!

My hot cocoa bar was a huge hit!

The seven grandkids on the stairs (plus Joey!)

2022 Book of the Year

 It's that time again! I can't believe it's been 14 years of Book of the Year posts!  This year, I read 38 books, and I chose the categories of Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction, and Best Christian.  Happy reading in 2023!  

To start us off, the Best Fiction book goes to this one:

I love ALL of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books! This one was about a tennis player coming out of retirement and he relationship with her dad/coach.  I LOVED every second of it!

Best Non-Fiction book of the year goes to:

Ok, don't come at me for this one.  It was a tough read, but immediately after reading it, I read it out loud to Blu, and then I gave it to a friend to read.  I am Southern Baptist born and bred, but this book highlights some major areas where we got it wrong.  Let's fix it.  

And finally, my Best Christian book goes to:

I had never heard of Jamie Ivey until I read this book a couple of months ago, and then I got to hear her speak in person.  It's been awhile since I read something this real and honest, and it really spoke to my heart.  

That's it for 2022!  I'm back in grad school and chasing 3 kids,  so my reading time is pretty limited right now, but I always try to sneak in a couple of chapters before bed!  Happy Reading!  

Merry Christmas 2022!

Sunday was a beautiful Christmas Day with our family!  (Except for when Caedmon came downstairs and announced that it was his last Christmas at home!). Here's a look at our day!

17 stockings ready to go for the big Tidwell Family Christmas coming up on Thursday!

Cam had a good year - we surprised her with a laptop!

Some of my favorite things - a soft t-shirt, a travel pillow, candles, and a shampoo/conditioner dispenser for the shower! :)

Blu with his Moon pies, church socks, and a ratchet set!

Cason LOVED all his Cardinals gear, plus a grilled cheese maker! :)

Caedmon got Yeezys, AirPods, and some other goodies!

The pool froze over...notice I'm not in ANY of these pictures because I had NO idea this was happening...

This year, I didn't force anything..I decided I wasn't going to make everyone do all the traditions I wanted - I would just go with the flow.  So my heart melted when Cam started making homemade cookies on Christmas Eve by herself to leave out for Santa!  (Caedmon got home at midnight and helped himself to Santa's tray - LOL!)

After presents, we headed to church to celebrate Jesus with our church fam!  Camille & Cambree

Landon & Camille

The youth that came with Lan & Camille - Kirsten, my 3, and Matthew!

Kids with Paw & Bmaw

Us with Paw & Bmaw

Us with Paw & Bmaw & Mom & Dad

Us :)

Mama & Daddy

After church, we spent the afternoon with Mom, Dad, and my Grandma Marie who is here for a few weeks!  We had fun re-creating some old pics!

Grandma with the kids

Awww hugs!

Those silly boys!

Kisses for Cam :)

Sweet picture!

This girl!

Mama Dee had an awesome Christmas spread for us!

And now it's back to work in the shop for 3 days before we do it all again with the Tidwell clan!  Merry Christmas!