The Ward Newsletter: January 2010

Boy was it a different Christmas Season for us this year! No family caroling, no driving around to see the luminaries on Christmas Eve, no Alpine 10th Ward Christmas Eve Pageant, no homemade family gift exchange. We had a very low key Christmas, which was very enjoyable in some ways, and very quiet and strange in others! Chris and I were talking yesterday about it, and how it was a very nice Christmas, it just didn't feel like Christmas because it was so different from what we're used to! But lovely still the same. So here's how we passed the time away.

I got strep throat on Wed, the 23rd. Lucky me!! Chris was fabulous and took care of the kids completely on Wed, I was out for the count. Luckily my meds started to kick in by Thurs. morning, so we ventured out and went to breakfast at IHOP. We wanted to go somewhere more authentic and had planned to go to a place downtown, but I was feeling so icky that I couldn't really taste the food, could barely swallow the food! so we opted for the more low key IHOP. It was fun, the kids liked it, I tried to tell them why my parents started going out on Christmas Eve for breakfast in the first place, kind of the same situation we're in with no family around when they lived in Idaho, and to make a new, fun tradition. Not sure all that sunk it, but I saw the parallel at least.

The rest of Christmas Eve was pretty low key, we played some games, made rolls and cookies for Santa, let the kids open their jammies and one other toy present. We watched the Nativity on dvd and tried to go over the True meaning of Christmas one more time before the mayhem the next day. I think they liked the show and we felt the Spirit as a family.

Christmas morning came pretty late at our house! The kids snuck out around 7:45 and took a peek at the presents, then came and woke us up! stinkers. But I was just glad they slept in a little. I was feeling pretty good at this point, thank goodness for antibiotics when you really need them! The kids loved all their goodies from Santa, Maci really wanted a Mermaid Barbie, a pink one this time, since she got a purple one last year but she really wanted the PINK one. Well, Santa obliged. She also got a Furreal puppy that rolls over, barks, etc. Gavin got his Maxus Draganoid, which he has been talking about non stop for about 4 months now! He was so excited, and as soon as it was out of the box had it put together in a flash. He's studied the YouTube videos of kids putting it together over and over. He also got a tin to put all his Bakugan in. He made a killing in the Bakugan department this year.

Love the Snuggies!!

We Skyped Chris's mom while the kids opened their presents so she could watch them, that was fun. They got lots of fun things and thoroughly enjoyed all the mayhem. We were very unorganized and just threw all the paper in the corner, figured we could clean it up later. It was pretty messy by the end!! We all got spoiled by the grandparents on all sides, THANK YOU!! for all you sent, the kids loved it all.

We piddled around in the morning, got ready and went to Princess and the Frog which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, then we came home and roasted a turkey, made all the trimmings, and had a great family dinner. The kids played with their toys, we listened to Christmas music, drank out of fancy glasses, and just enjoyed each others company. There is something to be said for doing your own thing on Christmas, it was totally relaxing and enjoyable, we just tried hard not to notice the sometimes quiet lulls when we are thinking about what we're used to back home. But I'm glad we've gotten to experience both types.

Feasting on Asphalt DVD's, love 'em! All my goodies, Santa did me proud!

During the break we've played lots of games, Toss Up and Pictureka are our new favorites, played lots of Wii and DS, watched too many movies, played outside when it's not too cold, and just enjoyed each other, for the most part :-D On New Year's Eve we went to a friend's from church with a couple other families and played Scum for about 3 hours straight, and counted down to the ball drop. It was really fun. New Year's Day we ventured south to Hollister to the Keeter Center which is on a local college campus. We were looking for a Homestead kind of vibe, and definitely found it there. The ambiance was great, the food was awesome and reasonably priced, and it was a really fun place to go. Maci thought it was a very fancy place and can't wait to go back. This may be a new tradition for our family. We did a little shopping in Branson, and then headed home to meet up with the Dunakey's who are in town from Omaha!! We've had Emma sleep over 2 nights now and Maci is in heaven, she really misses her friend! and I've caught up with Angelita over making hair bows and eating chinese food. We miss you guys!!