Ah, Christmas in Sunny Florida

As is Vredevoogd Family Tradition, Violet was introduced to a warm and sunny Christmas in Florida! We had a great time defrosting in the warm weather and showing Violet the ropes.

Here is all of us on the way to church on Christmas Eve. Thanks Uncle Brett for the picture! It's actually incredible that Violet isn't crying in this picture. She found her Uncle Brett with his full beard to be rather frightening and it took her a good 4 days to warm up to him. Then it was smooth sailing, but I think this was when she still thought he was terrifying!

And here is what happens when you take out Violet's "nubs" in her hair. Joel thought she looked like a stooge :)
Learning the finer points of present opening. She did love to tear up those packages. And eat the paper. REALLY loved to eat the paper!

Confession Time: I may be the worst Christmas Mother on the planet. We got her this cute toy, and I was opening it up for her while she sat on my lap. While I was trying to dislodge the thing from the package (why do they make them so hard??) , I accidentally hit Violet smack in the face when it came undone. The best part? We have it on video! And yes, she did cry. Poor thing! I am not sure I can get it to post on here but I'll sure try. Might as well share it with the world!

At happier times before her run-in with my hand:Later on Christmas Day we headed to my grandparents country club for quite possibly the Worlds Best Christmas Buffet. It was amazing as usual! We're pretty sure our table got the "Most Escargot Eaten" award. We all were radiating garlic the next day to prove it!


Earlier in the week, Jon's brother Trent and his girlfriend Heather drove from where THEY were spending Christmas in West Palm Beach. It was SO great to see them!Violet lounging poolside.
Hanging out on the beach. She only ate a few handfuls of sand :)

She LOVED the pool! Here she is floating around with her daddy.
So cute!

You don't actually think that's IT for pictures, do you? Of course not!! I had some camera issues so I ended up using my mom and sister's cameras for what I like to call the Great Sunset Photo Extravaganza. We had the entire VanElderen clan helping to get Violet to smile while the sun set over the Gulf. Stay tuned!

Hope you all had as great of a Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate!) as we did!