Christmas in Louisiana

After we celebrated Christmas in California, we flew back to Louisiana to celebrate Christmas yet again with the boy's family! (On Sunday the 27th, we weren't crazy enough to fly on the actual day of Christmas.)

His family has a tradition where everyone gets a bunch of scratch-offs in their stockings and there's a competition to see who can win the most. Overall, this was a pretty weak year, and the boy wound up winning with about $5.
I think I might have tied with his sister for 2nd place with my 3 tickets.

But the fun part about doing Christmas with his family is that his niece and nephew are there to really get into the Christmas spirit. Or at least his niece is, his nephew is still just a little too little to have any idea what's happening.
Yes, that is a stuffed alligator. That was mine and the boy's present to him. We're hoping it becomes the stuffed animal of choice. After all his niece's favorite stuffed animal is a monkey that we bought as well.

But the big present of the day was his niece's new John Deere tractor.
And yes, those are her new Christmas shoes and her new Christmas boa. Isn't that would you would wear to ride a tractor?

And since I posted a picture of my presents from the 1st Christmas I have to do the same for the second, right?
Why yes, that is an LSU Snuggie. The boy made sure to tell her sister I wanted one. Now I can stay all nice and cozy on the couch and still read a book!

So overall, we had not just one great Christmas but two great Christmases. And even though our families are half a country apart, we somehow were able to make it all work. Anyone else have any interesting arrangements so you can celebrate the holidays with all the people you want to?

~Shoshanah

P.S. There's going to be some exciting news From L.A. to LA news in the next few days! Get excited!