This is Brandon writing for this entry. Christmas for the Brown family is always a three part event. We begin by going to Grandma Doris and Grandpa Jim's house on Christmas Eve. We spend the day over there by eating Grandma's delicious food, opening stockings, going to church, and then opening presents in the evening. Grandma Doris put a new twist on her patented meat balls this year, and I was very impressed. Brooklyn had a lot of fun seeing her uncles and cousins, as well as opening her presents. Like every year, we awoke on Christmas morning to find presents scattered across the living room floor. Brooklyn's favorite presents were her Elmo chair and her candy (skittles, licorice, and chocolate!). For some reason, Brooklyn loves chairs. She even sat in the boxes that her presents came in!
We left for Grandma Alice and Grandpa Howard's after we were finished at our house. Grandma's sausage balls were fantastic as always. It was great to see Carla, Dan, Matthew, and Dani in from Georgia, as well as everyone else. The weather was unusually warm, so Brooklyn played basketball with her older brothers and cousins. A ball came smashing down on her head, and she didn't even think about crying. She's pretty tough. Anyway, Grandma did an awesome job of picking out presents. To carry on our family tradition, we saw a movie on Christmas night while Brooklyn stayed with Grandma and Darla. While everyone was gone, she said "Maa'ma" -- as you can guess, this made Grandma Alice very happy.
Speaking of Brooklyn talking, she is saying more and more every day. She baby-talks constantly, and I think her vocabulary will begin to explode very shortly. I'm looking forward to spending the next two weeks with her before I have to go back to school. I'm not too excited on leaving her again, so hopefully Mom, Dad, and the rest can come to several track meets this winter and spring. Bryce has two basketball games tonight at Martinsville, and Brooklyn can't wait to see her brother play!
It was a great Christmas. A happy New Year to all!
