Christmas 2009 has come and gone and boy what a fun one it was. The month of December has been insane and so glad that it is almost over. Between Christmas, school, and church; we have been running.
The weekend before Christmas is always set for Grammie's house. We go up to Soda to take presents to my grandparents and visit with my parents. My mom loves to have us come up to show off her house at Christmas time and this year didn't disappoint. Their favorite new addition to the house, a Jimmie Johnson blowup. haha. Funny dad. One major thing that happens during this weekend is Santa Elves. See my mom has a deal with Santa's elves that they will come and fill up the stockings while we are sleeping. That is pretty fun for the kids to see what Santa's elves bring in their stockings. As usual, Santa's elves overdid themselves and spoiled us rotten.
Christmas Eve was a family day. We spent a few hours at my in-laws visiting with Brian's family. It is a lot of fun for the kids to play with their cousins and everyone is so excited for Christmas.
We have a few traditions during the Christmas season and I think we got them all done this year. One is to see Christmas lights around town. There are a few Griswold houses that always seem to grow each year that we never miss. We didn't make the entire town this year but did get to see some nicely decorated houses. I have to say though, Woodside Drive looked pretty sharp this year all decked out. Another tradition is to watch Christmas shows all December. I think we watched them all this year. Some of my favorites: White Christmas, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Christmas Story. This year we got to burn a candle every night and read a Christmas story (my in-laws made us a folder of stories). Then on Christmas Eve we write letters to Santa Claus, put out our cookies and milk, read the scripture story, and get to bed early. All was accomplished.
Christmas morning was probably one of the best we have had. Matthew was just at the right age to realize Christmas was fun and exciting. Of course Kimberly was all ready for what she knew would be exciting. Kimberly was told not to come out of her room till 6 and she listened and didn't wake us up till 6:15a.m. (only for mom and dad's purpose). We finally woke up Matthew at 7 a.m. cause Kimberly couldn't wait any longer. After checking the cookies and milk (they were gone but noticed that Santa left a lot of crumbs), they ran around the corner to see what Santa brought. Matthew started grabbing things so excited and Kimberly just had her mouth wide open with a huge smile on her face. They were so happy! We tore through all the presents we had pretty quickly and then the kids played with things for a bit. Not long after we finished opening presents, my parents came to join us. It is tradition on Christmas Day for me to play host while my parents get to enjoy the kids and the food. So after my parents were bombarded by kids showing off what they got, we opened presents from them. Like always, they spoiled us rotten (oh I mean they showed their love). Thank you mom and dad for everything! Then it was time for Christmas lunch. This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I get to make everything I want to eat and love to try new things. I think I made many bellies full this year. My in-laws stopped by and gobbled up some food as well and then we got to open more presents. I think we had everything open by 2:30 p.m. The living room was full. Our garage was full of boxes and wrapping paper. And we were exhausted. But it was all worth it.
Christmas night was full of Rockband (thanks to Santa) and Wii games. Good thing the kids crashed by 8 p.m. cause Brian and I were ready for some Wii competition! haha.
We hope everyone had just as enjoyable Christmas as we did. Good thing we have 1 whole year to do it all again!
Love and blessings to all!
The spring brought sadness to our family. My grandmother (Mere-Mere) was told she only had less than 3 months to live due to cancer in March and passed away in May. We were lucky enough to spend some time with her before she got really ill. We will miss her terribly but we also know she is in a beautiful place waiting for us to return.
The summer was a lot of fun for the kids. Matthew tried hard all summer learning how to pedal his bike. Kimberly learned how to ride her bike without training wheels and we were so proud. She did it all by herself too. She was determined to learn to ride on her own and she did great.
This fall marked a big deal at our house. Kimberly started Kindergarten at Bridger Elementary. She seemed so big going to school. I am still amazed she is old enough for school but loving every minute of it.
The holidays came and went and we stuffed ourselves silly at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had a great Christmas and we all feel spoiled.
2010 is on our doorstep (the kids are ready with their hats and horns even though they will probably celebrate around 9:00 p.m. because they will not make it up past that time). We are looking forward to another year of blessings and many exciting adventures. We know there will be some surprises and I am sure some tears here and there. We take whatever comes our way with our heads held high.
