Anyway, where did I leave off? Hmm . . . back in December and all the snow. What's next? Let's just jump to Christmas, shall we?
Christmas Day and all the excitement leading up to it was so much fun! We were able to get out of the house to attend the live nativity at a local church, which, after 3 years, seems to be a family tradition. I just love it, and the boys had a great time, too. We didn't have to battle the crowds, since it was so stinkin' cold, and we had our pick of the Christmas cookies! The boys liked petting the animals and looking at all the people dressed in their Bethlehem finery. It seems like ALL of the Christmas Eve services in town had been canceled due to snow and ice, which was just weird, but we made the best of it. First, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights, . . . venturing into neighborhoods that CLEARLY hadn't been visited by the snow plow. Mitch just put it in 4WD! Then, we came home to potato soup (sort of a tradition) and Christmas cookies. We read the Christmas story from the Bible in front of our tree, talked a bit about it, then sent the boys off to bed. I'm sort of forgetting the timeline on some things, but we did walk around the neighborhood in the dark and just look at Christmas lights a couple of times. That was definitely something I will never forget! So peaceful and so wonderful.
On one of those walks, Grant told me that he is such a lucky boy. I asked him why he thought that. He said, "Because I have clothes and a nice house and a family who loves me and a lot of presents under the tree." So cute. "But I wish that I could have one of those big kid Darth Mauls, Mom." What's that? "You know. The one we had to put back because it has little parts that can break off?" Little did he know that I had stuffed that one under my coat in the cart and it was already wrapped and under the tree. I'm such a sneaky mommy!
Christmas morning at home with our little family was great. We got the boys up, dressed and ready for the day (in record time) and gathered around the tree for another reading of the Christmas story. Presents were opened, and the boys were thrilled! We tried not to spend too much on the boys this year, and I think we were able to keep it around $40-$50 each. Still, they got everything they wanted, including new Star Wars figures (for both), Legos (for both), a Spiderman costume (Cole), and a force action Light Saber (Grant). You should have seen Grant's eyes when he opened the Light Saber! He was so excited!
Mitch went totally overboard on me. BIG time. He got me a new Bamboo Fun which came with PSE 6.0 for Mac (an upgrade for me!), an external hard drive, and the iPod Nano that he won in a promotion at work. So cool! Plus, some movies (National Treasure 1 and 2, which I adore!) and other little things. He knows me!!
I got him a new hunting jacket, a decoy bag and a shelving unit for the garage. See. I stayed on budget. Stink. However, he did buy himself a new shotgun in November, so I guess I feel better.
After cleaning up, we packed up all of our stuff for the day over at Mitch's parents' house, and headed over. Mitch's brother and his family joined us, and we all ate breakfast together, then gathered in the family room for the much dreaded, much loved, traditional family pictures. And, here they are:
The grandkids. Mitch is always able to make them smile!
Our little family. Of course, there were three cameras going at once and we didn't get a single picture of all of us looking in the same direction!
Travis and Brandee's family:
The whole group:
The rest of the day was fun, crazy, relaxing (at times), nuts. I wouldn't trade it for anything! We had such a good time just hanging out and enjoying eachother's company! My mother-in-law always makes Christmas just FEEL like Christmas. Special, and all that. She decorates and cooks and makes everything festive. I love that!
Okay, whew! That was a baby step, but a BIG baby step. I'm tired!! I wish I could end with something witty, but I'm going to bed! Love you all!
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