It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I'm so proud of myself. In spite of a hellacious cold that started December 4th (and is still lingering a bit even today) I only missed one day of work and managed to get everything done that *had* to get done. The tree is up and decorated, presents are wrapped, goodies were made for teachers, and I survived my preschool Christmas party. Whew!

Of course, you'll probably be receiving a Christmas card from us somewhere around New Year's, and it's not going to be homemade, but it's the thought that counts, right? ;)

The girlies left yesterday to spend some time with Nana, Papa, various aunties, uncles and cousins. I plan to do some baking for Christmas Eve and clean out a few drawers and baskets while they are gone. I also plan to sleep in until at least 10 AM, so don't call me before then, okay?

I think I'm probably the last person in the family to post about it, but waaaaaay back on December 5th, those of us who were local to the south GA area gathered in Tifton so we could all make Granddaddy happy by having four generations of the family participate in the Tifton Christmas parade.

The parade didn't start until 5:00 PM, but we had to be in line by three. The day was cold, so we didn't get to show off our Christmas edition "Granddaddy" t-shirts like we wanted to. James decided to have his own version of "Cattells Gone Wild".



We had three vehicles in the parade. Dad's truck (with Grandmom and Dallin in the front and Matthew, Tabi, Evan and Brittany in the back) pulling the trailer with Mom, Helen and Ryan, David and Eileen and most of the grandkids on it.

















Our friends the Giggeys were next in line, and James and I rode in the back of their truck. Mom said we looked like the ultimate redneck tailgaters.





The Giggey boys looked too cute, and I had to take a picture of Dallin and Noah in their hats. (Believe it or not, Dallin and Noah were born just a few weeks apart, with Dallin being the younger of the two. I think he outweighs Noah about 2-1!)





Behind us was the golf cart with Andrea, Granddaddy, Jed and Nathan, and behind then was Aunt Susan walking with her History Club from school.







After m-u-u-u-u-u-u-ch waiting, we FINALLY got started. Mom was THE MAN and got us registered as the first group to go after all the city official-types went, and this was our view as we turned onto 2nd Street.





We had a lot of fun throwing out candy to all of the bystanders, although we tried to avoid throwing it to weirdos like these people:



By the time we got to the end of the parade, it was dark. We got permission to drive the rest of the way home (about 3 miles) just as we were- in the back of the trucks, trailers and golf cart. Only in a small town, right? I was pretty frozen by the time we finished that ride, in spite of my many layers of clothes and blankets.

I think we can safely say a good time was had by all, and we *might* just do it again next year!

Maybe.