Every year on Christmas Day, my extended family gathers together for Christmas lunch.  We rotate the location of lunch each year between all of the Great Uncles/Aunts houses.  Secretly, all of the “kids” look forward to the lunches that are in the “country” as we like to call it.  Or maybe I just do–not sure.  Strawberry Plains brings back so many fond memories for me.  My grandparents used to live there before moving to the “big city” of Knoxville when I was in middle school.  I remember spending a week each summer  when I was young with my grandparents (for some reason at that age, 45 minutes away from my house seemed like a big trip) in the country.  They had a lot of land and my Great Aunts/Uncles were mostly farmers and also have a lot of land near by to this day.  I remember fishing with my grandmother, seeing lots of animals, farming crops, and exploring all over–I loved it!  In addition to farming, my Great Uncle was also the local mail man so we would wait for him each morning to deliver the mail.  Strawberry Plains is the quintessential small town where everyone knows everyone and your family lives right around the corner.  I always thought that was so cool as a kid.

This Christmas, we had Christmas lunch in the country.  For the last 3-4 years, my cousins and I have started a tradition of a Christmas photo shoot–and yes, they all do it willingly!  After lunch is over, we go exploring all over the farm.  Typically, it is Matt & Lindsey (my cousins and brother and sister to one another), Alicia (my sister), and myself.  This year, we had the addition of my 2nd cousin Sarah Grace (who by the way is growing up so fast to a beautiful young lady!!).  Ryleigh, my niece, stepped in for a couple of photos but quickly realized hanging out with the big kids on a photo shoot isn’t as much fun as it sounds.  Alicia was missing this year as she was spending Christmas lunch with her soon-to-be new family in Nashville.  I decided to go all out this year and bust out the lighting equipment.  Aren’t my cousins awesome?  Oh, and the brother and sister are both single and looking if anyone is interested :).  Love how all of these turned out!!