The Allred's Christmas dinner and Allen's Birthday

We arrived in Ashburn really late Friday night (Dec. 21st). It was going to be a crazy day on Saturday (22nd) because we all had to be ready at 7:30 a.m. to take pictures for our mom's Christmas present, we needed to do last-minute Christmas shopping, AND we had the Allred Christmas dinner scheduled for that evening. Not the best night to only get 5 hours of sleep!

Saturday morning rolled around freezing and windy, but everyone was a good sport, even the kids, and the pictures were taken without a hitch. (I'll post them later.)

Right after the pictures, I had to take Lance to his dad's house because they were flying out that evening to California for a week. Lance was super excited! He loves his Gonda and Dahlquist cousins and he only gets to see them about twice a year, so this was a special treat. I hate that I don't get to be with him on Christmas, but I'm happy for him that he gets to be with people he loves.

Grandma's house was all decked out in beautiful lights and decorations. It didn't take long for Cole to find our little baby Jesus.

It was sweet to see him play with the baby.

We thought George would only have Christmas day off from work, but he somehow worked his magic on the staff and was able to come up Saturday afternoon (22nd) and got to stay through Sunday evening! I couldn't believe our luck, since we were all set to only see him late Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Since he was in town, we were able to be all together for the Allred Christmas dinner Saturday night!

Cornish game hens. Family tradition.

All my siblings were in town, so my kids were in heaven. I love my family!

This fireman's hat was a hit with the kiddos.

Jude found his own special way to wear it.

For the dinner, Jude and Mason got their own special table.

The whole group. Oh yeah! Grandma came into town late Friday night, too. We were so happy to have her!

Again, with me. I have the best family ever!

Later that night, we had chocolate fondu, an Allred family tradition.

Thanks, Amy, for whipping it all up! I for one was so passed out from lack of sleep, I took a couple bites and stumbled my way to bed. Good thing it was still out the next morning. Chocolate for breakfast, anyone?


Allen's Birthday was the next day (23rd) and we celebrated in typical Glass-family style.

Dinner at Longhorn, Allen's idea, was great! It was so fun to be there with the whole family, especially George since we all thought he'd be working that day. Yay!

Birthday boy! I can't believe he's 17 already. I remember when he was 2!

A blurry picture of the whole group.

Longhorn treats their Birthday guests right: Allen got that huge glass full of ice cream, compliments of the restaurant.

Watching Allen eat his ice cream. He offered some to the kiddos, but they were so full they turned it down.

After dinner George drove back to Charlottesville so he could be at work bright and early for his shift the next day.