Our holiday season actually started the weekend before, when we celebrated Hanukkah with Nannie, Papa, and the rest of the family. It was fun because Jameson has been learning about Hanukkah at school, so he had an idea of what was going on this year. We usually say that these get-togethers are a success if no one cries and I'd say this year was a success! :-)
This weekend started with a trip to see Santa at Bass Pro shop. It worked out pretty well. We got there about 2:45 pm and were given a card to wait in the 3:00 pm line. So we hopped in line. We didn't have to wait too terribly long before the kids were able to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas - Jameson a "castle toy" and Delilah a "bicycle." Afterwards, we dropped the two bigger kids off with some friends so that we could do a little Christmas shopping.
Saturday morning, we had family pictures with the Gordons. I thought that Ephraim was going to be the difficult one, but it turns out it was Delilah who was going to be a bit of a diva. Other than that, the pictures were fairly uneventful and I think we were able to get some nice shots. Then we headed to Lincoln to celebrate with Russell's grandma and the rest of the crew. It was a fun time, however as I saw Jameson cheat on "Pin the Nose on the Snowman", I suddenly realized that Jameson may have inherited my fear of failing. He was far more worried about what would happen if he didn't get the nose in the right spot than having fun playing the game. :-( I'm going to have to work on that.
Sunday we had Christmas brunch at my Dad and Ione's new house. After we ate and opened presents, the grand-kids (minus Ephraim), Papa Terry and Russell went sledding in the back yard. The ladies - and Tyler )although he did eventually head out after a bit of teasing) watched, laughed and took pictures from the warmth inside. The kids had a BLAST. That is, until Jameson and Delilah flipped over in their sled. Russell rushed a crying Delilah inside to me. It was very hard to stifle the giggles as she exclaimed "My hands is frozen!" over and over again. But, after a little hot cocoa from Mama O, she was good as new in no time! On the way home, I dropped the bigger kids off with Aunt Ray-Ray so that I could finish up my last minute shopping.
Monday was Christmas Eve and as I have for pretty much every Christmas Eve since we bought the house, I hosted the celebration with my mom, brother and his family. Kellie and her crew usually join us, but this year my kids developed a NASTY cough, so the L family decided it would be best to avoid that mess. And this year, Russell had to work, so our celebration was quite a bit smaller than it has been in past years. Nevertheless, we had a nice little evening. Tyler, Nichole and the girls made the mistake of showing up early, so I put them to work! We filled our bellies full of lasagna, opened some nice presents, and had some laughs. Then it was time to get everyone to bed so the big guy could make his appearance!
Last year, Russell had to work over night, so this mama was Santa's helper until about 3 am. Then -and I'm still not sure of the exact sequence of events- but as R got home from work, about 6:30 am, the kids were already downstairs or came downstairs, so they saw their presents from Santa before I joined them. Talk about a major let down! So, this year, I not only got to bed a *little* bit earlier due to having a second helper elf, but I instilled in Jameson that he needed to wait for me. So, everything worked out great. Everyone loved their gifts! Jameson was even excited about his clothes!! :-) The kids got just what they asked for from Santa - Jameson the "castle toy," Delilah a Minnie Mouse bike, and Ephraim a jumperoo. And what was my gift from the kids, you ask? Why, their cold, of course!! Wah! So, I spent the rest of the day resting on the couch! Haha! But, overall it was a WONDERFUL holiday season. And as usual, we were absolutely spoiled! Thanks to everyone who spent their holiday with us.
Merry Christmas, from the elves!
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