Well, I have to admit...I am so glad that Christmas is over! This month always feels to me like I am running a marathon. Every year I tell myself to get better prepared and to simplify, but every year, I am so tired by the end of it all. This year we added a new tradition of doing the 12 days of Christmas for a family. Each of the kids put a name in a jar and we picked one out. Maggie's friend from school won! We managed to deliver all 12 days without getting caught. When we finally revealed ourselves at the end, they had no idea that it was us! I'd call that successful! Here is a sample of Casey's poems. He wrote one for every day. My favorite day was day 10. What to do for "Lords a leaping?" This one was easy for Casey as he found a stuffed Darth Vader doll at Walmart and a storm trooper marshmallow sucker. The Lord of the Sith counts as a "lord" right? At the end, we reminded this family about the real reason for Christmas and challenged them to pick a family to do next year. This made our Christmas so much fun!
The really, really great thing about this Christmas was that we got to spend it with my parents. I haven't spent a Christmas with my parents since 2007! Can you believe that? When there are 4 siblings that each live in different places, every 4 years sounds about right. Well, this year, it was my turn! They arrived the Sunday before Christmas so I got them for a WHOLE WEEK! Oh how excited everyone was!
Casey and I had the opportunity to go spend a night out at the coast for free. Our free gift certificate to the Adobe Inn in Yachats expired at the end of the year so, since my parents were here to stay with the kids, we used it! We had such a great time sight seeing, shopping and eating! We love the coast!
Christmas Eve was a fun event! We had dinner at our house...with 23 people and lots of food! I know that sounds like a lot of people for my little house, but we made it work. Because my house was just for eating, we brought everyone in, sat them in their assigned seats and got right to eating. After dinner, clean up took about 10 minutes with so many helpers and we were off to Grandma Walburger's house for the bulk of the program. (her house is much more big crowd friendly!)
Grandma had set out all of the nativity costumes for our annual nativity pageant. Lydia was Mary and the only person that wasw willing to be Joseph was Uncle Jared. He was so cute with her! Here is a picture of the "cast" after the production! Everyone did a great job!After the Nativity, we heard a knock on the door and opened it to discover that Santa had dropped off a package and a letter! Inside the package was a pair of pajamas for every child. (a robe in the case of our girls)
Traditionally, Santa sends a letter along with his package of pajamas. Somehow, Santa knows the names of every person that is attending our christmas eve celebration. This year, since there were 23 of us, the letter was 27 pages long! All of it was in poem and featured the good things done by each person throughout the year! That santa, he sure is a talented guy!
The last event at Grandma's house was dessert. Everyone brought a dessert that is their favorite. Casey, being Casey, had to try every single one. He insists that the diet re-starts after Christmas is over! :)
Well, that's it for now. I'll get to Christmas day later!
