Christmas/New Year Update

Whew! The holidays flew by once again and here we are in 2007. I don't think I ever got used to writing "2006"! It was a busy and productive break. Bill finished working the flight on December 19th and didn't go back to work until yesterday, January 2nd. That was so nice! Alex's holiday from school also began on the 20th, so we were able to begin our family time all on the same day. Late one evening Bill and I put the kids in their pajamas, prepared coffee in our Starbuck's insulated mugs, and then all piled into the van to go look at lights. We looked and looked until all children were asleep and then drove home to transfer them into their beds. Despite the thunderstorm that had begun around us, it was a very pleasant outing.

We spent the days leading up to Christmas finalizing shopping, baking cookies and wrapping presents. Then Christmas Eve after church we spent the day at my parents house and had an early Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law. It was wonderful as always. The traditional luminarias and light-looking did not pan out this year due to rain. In my parents' neighborhood, white bags and small candles are sold and are supposed to be set out along the sidewalks on Christmas Eve night and lit at a specified time (these are the luminarias). When enough people participate, it is quite the site. We have made a tradition out of climbing into the back of my dad's pickup truck and driving around the neighborhood to look at all the lit up luminarias and Christmas decorations. This year was the first time I ever remember not being able to do this exciting activity. Sadly, Bill and my dad had just finished setting them out when it started raining, destroying all of the bags such that they could not be lit on Christmas night, the appointed rain date. But even without this fun tradition, we still had an enjoyable Christmas Eve. Having not gone on our "Bubba Truck Ride" as my cousin once called it, we were able to get the kids home at a more reasonable hour, which meant our getting to bed at a more reasonable hour - if you can call 2 am reasonable. Christmas morning we thought the kids would never wake up. My parents came over at 6:30 in the morning so that they could be there when the kids came down the stairs to their Santa gifts, but it was probably 7:30 before the kids woke up. At least we had some quiet time to enjoy our coffee. :) When they did come down they were so excited to see what Santa had brought them. Among other things, Nathan got the main item on his wish list - a new vacuum cleaner. And Alex got lots of new superheroes to play with. Bill and I let them play with their new toys for a little while before doing our gift exchange with each other. My favorite gift - the amazing cell phone holder my dear husband made for me so that my cell phone would not just have to lie on the kitchen counter. He's quite the craftsman! We gave the kids the morning to play with all their new treasures at home and then went back to my parents' house for a delicious lunch and Christmas with my sister and brother-in-law.

The boys decorating their Christmas sugar cookies

Christmas Eve at Granny and Paw-Paw's

Christmas morning

My very special cell phone holder (and really neat cell phone cross charm given to me by my sister)

We tried to use the rest of Bill's time off to accomplish a few jobs around the house. The biggest of these was painting Amy's room. It's a lovely shade of purple that compliments her new bedding perfectly. I'll post pictures soon!

New Year's Eve and Day were spent at my parents' indulging in way too much delicious food, as we did throughout the holidays. Now that the holidays are over, we are working to get back onto a healthy diet and exercise program. The diet part is going better, but the exercise... Well, maybe we'll get that going someday, as it is one of my New Year's Resolutions. :) I have lots of New Year's Resolutions I'd love to share, but I'll save them for another post.