Christmas 2011.  The very first Tucker Christmas.  And let me just say...I rocked it.  For as long as I can remember, my mother provides us with all the sweets and snacks we can handle on the days leading up to Christmas and every Christmas Eve she prepares a feast of roasted beef fit for royalty.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  But this year was different.  This year my mother had surgery on the 22nd to remove a large cyst from her ovary.  All she could think about was all the things that had to be done for Christmas while she would be laid up on the couch.  That's when I realized it was my time...my time to run Christmas.  I took over everything...from last minute shopping and wrapping for her to baking and preparing the feast.  I took our Christmas Eve dinner and put my own twist on it, adding mouth watering appetizers of fried soft shell crab and raspberry baked brie.  Everyone pitched in and helped take care of mom, and my sister was instrumental in keeping a clean house.  Never once did I feel stressed or overwhelmed, in fact I loved every second of being in that kitchen and the look on every ones face when they tasted the tasty morsels I had prepared.  And the Tuckers?  The Tuckers were about as happiest as I have ever seen them.  Mason got a furvever home and family for Christmas...and if that wasn't enough he got more treats, toys, and bones than he will be able to take down by next Christmas.  August got the peanut butter big bone he has been sniffing in pet smart for two months among all the other toys and treats.  Mosie got a tempurpedic bed for her hips and a turkey leg raw hide bone.  And Mommy and Daddy got lots of good stuff, but nothing as good as being able to spend the best day of the year as a family.