McKinley Jane and Grant Alan

We had the  most relaxing Christmas Day ever by opening gifts early in the morning and then hanging around in PJ's the rest of the day.  Absolutely perfect!

We did our annual Christmas boat day and took the boat out on the ocean on Christmas Eve before church.  Had a fuse blow and were almost stranded but luckily my hubby can fix anything and got us going again!  Another mishap occurred when Chad and I were relaxing in the sand with the kids and looked up to discover the tide had gone out beaching our boat.  All four of us had to start rocking and pushing to get it back into the water LOL!

We attended Christmas Eve service at One Church and it was such an amazing way to kick off the evening celebrating the birth of Jesus! 

Our cake that the kids made and decorated themselves to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

For Christmas Eve we decided to start a  new tradition and do a Christmas Eve gift ball!  We take little gifts and wrap them in saran wrap.  Each person takes turns unwrapping until something falls out.  Chad was in charge of the gifts and it was an interesting mix of hair bows, beef jerky and other trinkets!

For the first time Chad and I got to attend our emergency department holiday party and he and my manager, Kathy, pulled off the best surprise ever as I found out I had won the Susie Miller Nurse of the Year award which was a honor that I can't even describe.  Susie was my manager when I first moved to Orlando and she literally changed the course of my life by getting me involved in education and pushing  me beyond my comfort zones.  She was a tough cookie that had high expectations but was also the most supportive and caring manager.  Susie lost her battle with cancer a few years ago but receiving this award to me was like a pat on the back from her in heaven as I'm now pursuing the things she always encouraged me to do.