The Slowdown

The daily Christmas event calendar is complete. Christmas came and went with happiness and fun and laughter. I couldn't have asked for a better time.

On the 23rd, we had the opportunity to have all 4 grandchildren for several hours. We baked cupcakes, played games, cut snowflakes, drew pictures, played the piano, played outside. It was fun. It was exhausting. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Time to decorate the cupcakes, and the hands, and the elbows, and the table!

Eric really liked the sprinkles. Want to guess which ones were his?

That evening, we had Kyle, Faith, Gena, and Jaxson over for Christmas. It was nice to see Faith and Kyle. We had not seen them in several months. I got 2 new cookbooks, which I will definitely use. In fact, that is on my list of things to do - find a few new recipes.

Gena started playing the violin this year. We got her a violin ornament, a violin book, and 2 "how to draw" books.

Jaxson sold over $600 in popcorn with the cub scouts this year. We got him a popcorn ornament. He also loves to read. We got him a subscription to National Geographic kids and then a book on submarines and one on the solar system.

Matthew got home on Friday as well. It was so nice having him here. He felt the same - mainly because of the food. He was even excited over leftovers for lunch! He just kept saying, wow, there is so much food in this house. He has been on the poor boy diet which includes a lot of rice and beans. He lost 13 pounds since August and didn't need to lose any. I was very glad to feed him. And was highly distressed to know how hungry he had been and hadn't called home. I remember trying to do it all myself at that age. 

Christmas day was wonderful. It started with breakfast, went on to presents, then to church. The kids went on to their dad's house and Keith took me to the Carolina Hotel Christmas Buffet. It was incredible. They had food that I couldn't pronounce and definitely food I'd never afford to try anywhere else! Keith thought he was trying some kind of jelly with crackers. I tried not to laugh - it was caviar. He seemed to enjoy it even when he realized what it was! I ate entirely too much dessert. The dessert table was 30 feet long and went down both sides. No one could pick just one.

Here are the appetizers. You should have seen the rest of it!

Church was lovely. Wonderful music. Truly enjoyable. I did get two laughs though. We had several narrators reading to us from the scriptures - mostly in Luke. One very southern gentleman read the part where the angel said hail to Mary. However, the accent made it sound like he swore at Mary. (say hail slowly and with a southern accent....get it?)  I couldn't look at Matthew because he was trying not to laugh as well. Then there was the part about the espoused wife. Except it was said exposed wife. Once again, I couldn't look at my kids. Or the people in front of me. Or behind me.  Thankfully a song came immediately and I was able to recover completely.

Monday we saw our friends Vaughn and Karen. Today we got to spend time with Keith's oldest daughter, Kim.

So, as Christmas comes to a close and I enjoy my decorations for just a few more short days, I am thankful for the wonderful season, for family, for friends, for all my many blessings, for the ability to help others during this season, for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And for the last time, until December of 2012, I wish you a Merry Christmas and all that goes with the season.