Christmas 2008

Christmas ’08 has come and gone in our household. (We, in fact, took down the tree and all decorations last night.) It was a blast to have our first Christmas in our own home. We saw JoPop and GloMom (Evan’s parents) at their Georgia timeshare on Monday, and then they came Christmas Eve and stayed until the morning of the 26th. The kids loved having more attention, and John and Gloria reveled in the time they got to spend with the grandkids they see so infrequently.

We went to church Christmas Eve, and then had the usual Christmas morning pandemonium. Both kids made out like bandits (with 3 sets of grandparents, are you surprised?). Among the favorite gifts were Ella’s mixer, Easton’s basketball goal, the soccer ball, and the “Big Green Pocketbook” from Bebe. (This is from a favorite book of Ella’s with the same title.) We have been playing a lot of “Dora Memory” the past few days, as well. I am so glad I cleaned out the kids’ rooms and playroom before they opened all these new gifts!

The weather here Christmas day was awesome: sunny and about 65 degrees. After a pancake breakfast courtesy of my sweet husband, we headed outside to try out some of the new toys. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing, reading, and trying not lose any of the tiny pieces that came with the new toys.

Evan tried his hand at a gingerbread house last night. Ella was very excited about this whole house made of cookies, and she snuck a piece of candy off the front while no one was looking. J

I am overcome with a deep sense of gratitude in the midst of this season. I just finished a great novel called “Skeletons at the Feast.” It is fiction, but it chronicles historical truths of the atrocities committed against the Jews in Nazi Germany toward the end of WWII. The evil oppression of a few against so many is heartbreaking, but it is fresh reminder that we have SO MUCH. How grateful I am that my children live in this country and have a safe, warm home to sleep in and full bellies. Christmas gifts are just icing on the enormous cake of our lives.

(Sorry for so many photos. The grandparents can’t get enough, and as you have seen, they send the gifts.) J

Jolly Old St. Nick

Ella's school hosted a Breakfast with Santa yesterday. As I was not inclined to stand in line at the mall for an hour with the two toddlers, we opted for this instead. This Santa was very authentic ... real beard and all. This Santa did have a Southern accent, so we decided he was the South Pole Santa.

Ella was very excited and interested. She never really smiled, but she told him what she wants for Christmas (a mixer), and she pointed out the Baby Jesus to him. (We had never seen Santa and Baby Jesus appearing together, but there is a first time for everything!) As you can see, Easton was having none of this Santa business. There's always next year!

November Wrap Up

So I am clearly desperately behind in my blogging. Besides the usual holiday craziness, we have some serious and myserious GI issues going on with Easton the past few weeks, and our camera seems to be in its last days. We will replace it soon, but as it is the holiday season, cash is not sitting around our house in abundance at the moment.

Here are few quick highlights from November. We attended our first preschool program, completet with two year olds who looked at each other instead of singing their song. We also hosted our first Thanksgiving in our new house, and I made my first turkey. (It was pretty good, too!)