Days of Christmas Past

Our little Princess received a crown with earrings and a ring as part of her Christmas gifts. She also received a twirl and play Little Peoples castle.



Part of Jacks gifts included Legos, I don't know who was more excited him, or us. Chris and I love Legos. He also received "Horton Hears A Who" DVD.


What a wonderful holiday this has been. Chris and I took a different approach to Christmas this year. We have been planning for a whole year to not spend that much on Christmas gifts. So we limited the amount we planned on spending for the kids. Included with that was downsizing of things like Christmas cards. So I apologize to everyone who normally receives a card from us, we simply chose not to spend the money, it does not mean we don't still love you. It has been the best thing. There has not been the stress of overspending this year and simply enjoying the holiday. We are able to give a lot of things for free, and that is what we focused on. The absolute best part of this holiday, is that not one cent was put on a credit card. We put on Christmas without going into ANY debt. Not one little bit!! That has been the best present of it all. I think that is also why the stress has been non-existent.

A few things we enjoyed the last week or so:

DINNER WITH MY COUSINS
I reconnected with my cousin Brady, on Facebook recently, and we started talking, he suggested that we get together for dinner. My parents were coming into town and everyone could see everyone. We got together at my cousin Jamie's house in Clearfield and had pizza. It was so much fun, it has been about 15-16 years since we have really spoken with all of them, It was fun to meet everyones children and husbands and just catch up. The funny part, is that only our parents remember how we are related, none of us kids can ever remember. Basically, it is My Grandma - Elizabeth Stevenson Jones, and their Great-Grandpa - Something or other Stevenson who are brother and sister. My Great-Grandparents and their Great-Great-Grandparents are the same people. That is not confusing at all, is it? Thank you Tubbs family for your hospitality, I enjoyed catching up.

CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER
We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, we held it at my sister Danci's house this year. It was a good dinner. We are very casual people and do paper plates, and buffet style dinner. We aren't out to impress anyone, we just want to socialize and by making it easy we can do more socializing. Then because all of us were together we swapped gifts between the siblings and then gave the sibling gift to our parents. I was a little dissappointed in what happened to my parents gift. As part of the gift we ordered them a photo calendar with all the children and grandchildrens pictures in it. They sent my order to Connecticut, and gave me someone from Connecticuts order, so they had to reorder it, and it didn't come in time. To top it off, they reordered the wrong calendar, so they have to reorder it for a third time. Don't worry, I put up enough fuss and had it refunded. But now I will have to mail the correct one to my parents when it finally shows up. Let's hope this is the last time.
We have started a new tradition about a few years ago. My mom sewed all the costumes, and we dress up our kids as figures in the nativity. This year Jack as one of the three wise men, and Audrey was an angel. We have someone read the narration of the nativity and we all join in by singing songs along with it. It is fun to watch the kids either participate how the story says or participate in their own way like Audrey who was just running around and falling on the ground. Jack did well this year and beside some absent-minded costume fussing did really well.
Anyway, it was good to be with my family minus one sister in Oregon, she called and we all talked to her, we always miss her when she is not with us. Katie, the one in Oregon, is a very generous person, she loves her family very much and shows it in any way she can. Well she sure showed us how much she loves us by her present this year. I will leave it at that.
Katie I love you too.

MY PARENTS
Christmas day was a lot of fun, but the best part was when my parents came to stay for three nights From Saturday to Tuesday morning. We met them in Salt Lake on Saturday because they wanted to go to lunch at L&L's Hawaiian BBQ. My mother was in heaven, My Dad kept saying he needed to ordered one of everything to take with him. L&L's is my favorite restaurant as well, so it was fun that it was enjoyed by them as much as I enjoy it. We spent the rest of the day shopping around Salt Lake, and my Dad bought Jack some new shoes, which he needed desperately!
My parents also bought a few other things for us, and I just cannot express the gratitude I have for my parents. I love them so much. I miss them as well. It is nice to know that as I go through life pretending to be an adult, that I have people with more experience and know-how then I do to ask for advice and know-how with things. It is good that their are people out there who love your kids as much as you do. I want to spoil my kids, but I am the mother so I know I shouldn't, plus I can't afford. It is so cool that they do the spoiling, plus it is just as much fun for me to enjoy what they get so in a way I get spoiled as well. I also love that my husband loves them. Chris has said before he can't relate with the typical "in-law" jokes, because he gets along so well with my parents. My Dad and Chris are so similar it is scary. They are best friends, and I love it.

I have had the best holiday I can remember in the last few years. I am thoroughly exhausted by it all. Chris will work on New Years Eve and New Years Day, and that is fine by me. I will put the decorations away, and get ready for the next big event in our life - Jack's 5th Birthday. I am thankful for all the precious time I had with my family and new memories made.