Christmas 2008

Our Christmas season was full of fun and love and busyness. After my last post, we had Bethany's Christmas program at school, well it was held at the local college. Mallory was extremely upset that she could not go up and sing on the stage after Bethany's class finished. Thank goodness Aunt Anita was there to entertain Mal outside with Gatorade and snacks while the program continued. We did have to let her go up after all was done so that she could sing on stage, too. What a little ham!

We put up our tree for a Family Home Evening, but ended up moving it to the other side of the room later on. That was fun....for Brad and his dad. I just watched. : )

We went out for Chinese on Christmas Eve with the Bennett family, as is their tradition, spend our 1st Christmas morning in our own house and then rushed over to local grandparents' house for more gifts, and then moved onto my family after that. It was a very busy day, but we had lots of fun - especially watching the little ones enjoy what Santa had left for them. Games were played, new movies were watched, and many of us have been reading new books ever since that day. One of the bummers of our Christmas was that it did not snow- our Californian family members were quite disappointed. What is with rain in the winter? I would much rather see white flakes falling, than have to chase Mallory out of the water puddles every time we go outside. I never did get to the sugar cookies with the kids, but they did help me make the easiest of holiday treats. (pretzels, Rolos, and pecan halves) Yum! Brad and I were reminded of how much fun we used to have buying lots of presents for each other for our first Christmases together, but we have since decided to just do stockings for each other and spend our holiday budget on our loved ones. It feels so good to find the right gift and watch someone find joy in what you've chosen for them.

Since then we've been reorganizing bedrooms and closets and toy shelves and bins to make room for new things, and starting a new load for Goodwill. I still haven't put away my Christmas decorations, but they are all laid out on my dining room table awaiting their boxes. I'm still trying to sort out my goals for the year. I want to make sure they're reasonable. Maybe I'll fill you in when I complete the list, so that I'm held more accountable.

Hope that you all have a Happy New Year and are blessed in 2009!