Merry Christmas 2009

This morning you wouldn’t even know it was Christmas morning b/c of how Andrew & Autumn reacted.  We woke them up and told them Santa had been to our house and they just asked if they could watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!  But, we finally convinced them to come into the formal living room w/ us to see what Santa had brought.

Santa brought Autumn a doll house, a doll, dish towels to cover her dolls up with, and a little Autumn-sized recliner!

Andrew got a Spiderman blanket and pillow, a Transformers helmet and gun, and an Andrew-sized recliner.  Andrew LOVED his helmet and gun and didn’t want to take them off.

After the kids got to see what Santa brought them, Dad read us the Christmas story out of the Bible.  I’m glad we do that before opening presents so it reminds us what Christmas is for in the first place.  It was funny, b/c while Dad was reading it Andrew was playing w/ his Transformers gun so we kept hearing random sounds.

My gifts this year included a trip to Utah, Annie on DVD (I used to watch that movie 3 or 4 times a day when I was a kid..the way Autumn does with Mulan), some Bath & Body Works lotion, and a Scentsy warmer and some amazing smelling wax cubes to put in the warmer.

Autumn got some new dresses to wear next year when it gets warmer, a new bedspread and sheets, and then a Mulan doll.

One of the neatest presents this year was that Dad had Mom’s wedding ring resized so she can wear it.  It was so tender and brought a tear to everyone’s eyes when we saw her reaction.

My favorite gift this year, however, was a gift of the heart.  I had gotten in touch w/ all of Mom & Dad’s siblings and asked them to write down some of their memories of when they were kids and things they love and appreciate about them.  It was so neat to see what my parent’s siblings said about them and I think it meant a lot to Mom & Dad.  I know I cried a few times when I read what the aunts and uncles wrote.

After opening all our gifts, the kids tried out their new recliners while Mom & I fried the scrapple and got everything ready for Christmas breakfast.  It’s a tradition that we have scrapple, cream cheese bread or cinnamon rolls, and hot chocolate.

It was so much fun to have a white Christmas this year.  Here is the view out the front door.  I can’t remember the last time we had a white Christmas in Texas.  It made everything feel more festive and Christmas-y.

After we got everything cleaned up from breakfast, it was time to play w/ some of the toys.  Andrew had gotten this fun Disney Cars racing track.  I think Dad had as much fun playing w/ it as Andrew did.

Dad also had to try out the Transformer’s Bumblebee helmet that Andrew got.  Sometimes I wonder if the kids or the parents (and grandparents) have more fun w/ the gifts.

After watching Transformers, we busted out the Wii Fit, which was a present Mom got.  I laughed so hard when we were opening the box and this was the warning on there:

“Please note that while playing Wii Fit Plus, others in the room may be able to see your age, weight, and BMI category  on the TV screen.”

We had fun playing w/ the different games on there.  I learned that I don’t have very good balance and that my posture is off b/c I put more pressure on my right leg while standing.  I tried one of the strengthening games while Mom did a balance one.

Jon did some Rhythmic Kung Fu dancing and Dad did some jogging.  We laughed and had fun playing it and all took turns.

Autumn had Dad help her putting together her princess squares and Lexie showed her how to play hopscotch.

This is a recipe for what we call “Friendship Tea.”  It’s not really tea (the original recipe calls for tea, but we don’t drink tea so we just leave that out), but it’s so good.  We drink  it all the time in the winter and we ran out of mix, so we made some more.

Friendship Tea

2 c Tang
1 c sugar
1 pkg dry koolaid lemonade mix
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients together in an air-tight container.
Use 2-3 tablespoons of mix for 1 cup of hot water.

We played some games like Scum and Scumbag, Rummikub, and Yahtzee.  Lexie went in the kitchen to get a drink and Nick tooted.  It stunk SO BAD and Lexie dropped to the floor and said, “Stay low to the ground,” and she started crawling around so she didn’t have to breath in his toxic fumes.  We were all laughing so hard we were crying.

“Hey, how can I get in on this back rubbing train?”

Basically we just spent the whole day eating and laughing and spending time together while creating memories.  It was a wonderful Christmas and our family is so incredibly blessed.  We wrapped up the evening w/ watching Home Alone & then Deck The Halls (w/ Danny Devito and Matthew Broderick) was on after that, so we watched that, too.  Andrew couldn’t stay awake and I don’t blame him.  It was a fun filled day.