A Small Town Kind of Christmas!

Every year the Stepps head up to N.C. and have our annual Dillehay Christmas with my dad and our family!  It is always such a treat for so many reasons.  1- We do it before Christmas while everyone is still excited and in the spirit of things!  2- We are in a extremely small town exudes the Christmas spirit!  And finally 3- We are with some of my most favorite people in the world!  And that's what Christmas is all about!
So..here goes!
1- Early and excited:
NaNa and PaPa let the kiddos open one present early!  I think they were just a tad excited!

2- Oxford, N.C. - This place is, in my book at least, the definition of a small town.  It is the type of town that if you said a cuss word when you were out with your friends your parents knew about it by the time you got home.  But more importantly, it's the type of place where people say "Merry Christmas!" instead of "Happy Holidays!"  It's the type of place that when you go into the local pizza restaurant you see people that you've known your whole life.  Here's just a little glimpse of Oxford's charm:

This is my Grandmother's house, where my mom grew up!  I have spent so many Christmases here!  Though you won't find us celebrating here now, this house will always be so much of who we are!

Oxford's most popular street is lined with old homes that look like this!

This is the church where I grew up and the church that I was baptized in! 

The Oxford courthouse with it's annual fruit decor.  It's been this way since I was a little girl!

The streets in downtown Oxford are lined with lights!  The trees are also usually lit...but like I said, this is a small town!  And well, the lights in the trees turn off late at night! ;)

A little bit of home!  This is the house that my dad grew up in and now this is home to my Aunt Missy!  We spent every Christmas eve here as children and we thankfully still get to celebrate here!

3-Some pretty awesome folks:

PaPa and Wells

Sweet Baby Tee

Missy, the new mother of 3!  She seems pretty excited about opening gifts too!  Guess we're all big kids at Christmas!

Sweet, sweet kiddos- Patterson, Wells, and CeCe

Uncle Randall...looking like such a natural with Tee!

Aunt Kacky and her boys

Really...two amazing people!  We adore Aunt Missy and Uncle Tim!

Everyone loves Aunt Jess!

She's becoming domestic!  Whitaker, a recent ECU grad and the future Mrs. Bobby Hilgoe!  Bobby was there too...and we are pretty excited about him being a part of the family!

This is Will with the precious new addition to the Tim/Mandi Cottrell family! 

And here is the Mandi/Tim Cottrell family!

The Gang!

And in the pink sweater you will find NaNa...the woman behind the fabulous weekend!

 And there was a little surprise...we had a WHITE WEEKEND! 

"May your days be Merry and Bright! 

And may all your Christmases be WHITE!"