A Smokey Mountain Skupien Christmas!

We got together on the night of December 27th this year with Jeremy's extended family.  The Skupiens Christmas party usually has a theme and this year it was a Smokey Mountain Christmas.  We all got together at Ryan's place again this year.  He has the perfect garage/space.  Uncle Scott made pizza and hot dogs on the grill, Baboo made chili, and there was all sorts of other yummy "camping" foods.   Of course we had a fire and s'mores for desert.  Lauren had decorated to make it feel like we were really in the Smokies and had cute signs that said "don't feed the bears" and "Gatlinburg 604 miles" hanging around the garage.  It was a great theme for the Skupiens and made me miss the Smokies.  We had such an awesome time there this past summer.  After catching up and visiting with family, we ate dinner, and then it was time to open gifts. 

Grandma Sugar always gives the kids a bag full of presents.  She shops all year long for Christmas.  This year MK and Walker got some clothes, a keyboard, snow globes, and shoes.  MK's favorite gift from Grandma Sugar was a box of dress up clothes.  Walker's favorite gift of the night were the M&M's from his second cousin, Miles.

Jeremy's aunts and uncles always give our children gifts.  Aunt Nita painted them each a plate.  I am holding Walker's in the picture above.  Aunt Lila made MK a precious red pillow case dress and Walker got his big blue reading chair.  He loved it but we don't have a picture of him in it because Jeremy had already packed up the camera before he opened it.

This is the scene as all of the adults and kids exchange gifts.  It is fun for everyone.

My favorite gift of the night was this beautiful pink pillow case dress for MK.  Aunt Lila had made it from one of Mamaw's blouses.  The buttons on the dress even came from the blouse.  It made me cry!  This was such a special and sweet gift.  I can picture Mamaw in this blouse and I can't wait to see MK in her new dress.  It will be something we save forever and hopefully can pass down to other generations.

Besides the M&M's, Walker liked this dinosaur and his new truck.  He was a busy body most of the night and when he wasn't running around outside, he was being friendly and visiting with everyone.

While the adults played Dirty Santa, MK tried on some of her dress up clothes.  She danced, sang, and twirled.  She put on a show for everyone.

And we tried to get a family picture this year.  This is Grandma Sugar with her 3 children and their spouses, her 6 grandchildren, and her 8 great grandchildren.  This picture makes me smile.  MK would say, "We are all Skupiens!"

Then we decided it would be fun to do silly faces........

And then straight, serious faces.........

We all had fun!  It was a great party and a great night.  I really enjoyed catching up with Jeremy's cousins.  We don't get together very often and it's always nice to visit.  Thank you so much to Grandma Sugar and all of the Skupiens for the wonderful gifts.  Our Christmas marathon is now over.  This was our last event and it was a fun one!  Now Christmas is officially over.  It sure was a great 5 days.  We are exhausted but so blessed!  I am looking forward to celebrating the New Year next and then taking time to relax and rest!