Tuesday, January 19, 2010

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Owen and Mason sing one of the songs they learned at school. I like Owen's hand motions :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Christmas 2009 - The best one yet!

We played host again this Christmas as our little house filled up with 13 people for the holiday. Both sets of grandparents, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Lindsay, and Bee, Numna, and Grandma Mary (all the way from Mexico, Missouri) stayed with us. We (of course) had a great time. Daddy, Mommy, Granddaddy, and Papi spent two days before Christmas doing the age-old ritual of assembling Owen and Mason's big present from their grandparents - their very own playground/fort/swing set for the backyard!

Christmas Eve was nice as we all went downtown to get in the spirit and to hear another inspiring message from Dr. Wende at First Methodist. We came back home and had the tamales that Bee brought, which has quickly become one of our traditions.

Things quickly took a turn towards the chaotic as we realized that with all of the drilling and ratcheting in the backyard we had completely run out of time to wrap gifts! Thankfully everyone pitched in and helped us out.

We were also scrambling to take care of some of prep work for the big Christmas meal. Why it's a tradition to have a big meal in the middle of such a hectic time, I will never know. Anyway, I had decided that this year the turkey, the centerpiece of the meal, would be our contribution. I have never cooked a turkey before, so we had some adventures with that. My dad helped and spared me the task of dealing with turkey innards and we put it in the brine to soak overnight. Just then we realized that I hadn't thought far enough ahead to have a roasting pan on premises. So, in a story to be detailed later, we drove off at 11 PM and toured the city, eventually coming to a bizarre yet effective solution!

Christmas morning was of course a hit for Owen and Mason, and we all had fun seeing the joy through their eyes. Every year it gets better and better! They were shocked to discover that the milk and cookies they'd left out for Santa were gone. They had a great time opening their presents, although they never seemed to get enough time to play before they had to open another one. Eventually, they pleaded with us: "No more presents!" Later on, when we look back and wonder if Owen and Mason were spoiled as kids, there should be no doubt.

We gave them a little break and let everyone else open their stuff. Mommy and Daddy (I'm never sure when to use 1st and 3rd person in these posts, but here I mean Erin and I) ended up spoiled a little bit, too, as their big gift was a new TV.

After the second round of gifts, Mason and Owen went outside and discovered their brand new playground! Of course they knew just what to do. We're looking forward to a lot of memories as they play with that over the years.

So all in all we had a wonderful time. We are definitely blessed to have the families that we have. Thanks to everyone who came for making it a Christmas to remember, and to everyone else we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas 2009