Hi all! We've returned from our travels after what seemed like a bit of a whirlwind tour. What a wonderful Christmas it was!
We headed out on Friday morning for Lewistown and spent four wonderful days there. There wasn't a dull moment, that's for sure! Friday night my dad treated us to a pretty fantastic batch of seafood chowder. It was awesome! We had a great day with them and tried to rest up for the next few days and all of the excitement they would hold. We played at my parents' house, I baked a cheesecake for the party on Saturday and we just enjoyed some down time with Nana and Pap and Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig. Joshua lit up at the sight of Libby, just like he always does. I swear, he likes her better than us.
Saturday was the party with my Grandma Shirley. They had the party at my parents' house, which was a plus for Joshua's sake. At least there he has some idea what he's allowed to get into and what he isn't. We had ourselves prepared for him to be very overwhelmed and freaked out by the mass of people in the house. But after a few minutes of looking around when he got up from his nap, he seemed to really enjoy the party. Of course it didn't hurt that everyone started showering him with presents when he woke up. Toys always help! He ended up being quite the entertainer all weekend, showing everyone all of his tricks and making up with quite a few of my cousins and family members. It was really fun to watch Joshua enjoy Richard Christmas celebrations as much as we do. The biggest hit of the day was Joshua's discovery of Nana's swiffer- which we shortened for him. He "cleaned" all day and giggled the whole time he did so. We had a precious video of him giggling at Libby while swiffering...the sound of that laugh is like music to me.
Sunday we got up and went to church. I wound up spending most of the service in the nursery with Joshua. The funny part about that was that a friend of mine from when we were growing up was in the nursery with her two little boys, and then another friend came in with his son, and then yet another of the "kids" of my generation came in with their own babies. We enjoyed quite a chuckle over how times have changed and enjoyed watching the kids play while we caught up. We didn't do a very good job of listening to the service, but Jason filled me in when we got home. HA! As always, it was great to catch up with the church family that meant so much to me growing up.
Sunday afternoon we worked with mom to get the Christmas dinner ready. Since we were going to be home at our house for Christmas day, mom and dad decided that we'd celebrate Christmas as a family on Sunday evening. Mom made a wonderful turkey dinner- complete with filling balls and sweet potatoes (my favorites). Libby and I actually made the filling balls this time with a little coaching from the Filling Ball Police- Dad. After we stuffed ourselves, we opened presents with them and had a blast! Joshua especially loved a big box that he insisted on climbing into. He was blessed with some wonderful gifts, all of which Jason and I appreciate so much. He got some adorable outfits and wonderful toys and has been playing with them since we got home.
Monday was a quiet morning, but the evening certainly made up for it in terms of commotion. We spent all day playing at my mom and dad's house. Joshua couldn't even finish his lunch from being so tired, so he wound up going down for his nap around noon. Jason, Libby and I had some quiet time that we actually got to visit, so that meant an awful lot to me. Never enough sister time, in my opinion! We woke Joshua up at 3:00 to head over to Pap and Freda's for their Christmas Eve party. We had such fun there. I was nervous about Joshua getting into things he's not allowed to touch there, but he did great. We ate too much, enjoyed each other's company and had a blast. Just like Christmas Eve is supposed to be. The Richard tradition of many years ago was always my pap reading The Night Before Christmas to all of the kids. The youngest would sit on his lap and he'd read to the rest of us. Well, Joshua happened to have his "Santa" book out and he sat in Pap's lap to be read to. It was a special moment, although I'm pretty sure Joshua just thought it was story time. He'll understand someday. All the rest of us "kids" sat on the floor in front of pap and listened like we always did. We headed out around 6 when Joshua started to show signs of getting cranky. Now, I had some serious concerns about our travel home given Joshua's loathing of riding in the car after dark. In order to keep him from screaming, I had to sit beside him in the back seat and we rode home with the back seat light on. But he didn't scream. Merry Christmas to mommy and daddy for sure.
Christmas Day was spent at our house as a family in the morning, and then with Jason's family in the afternoon and evening. We had a ton of food (leftovers at our house for WEEKS!) and a ton of presents. Joshua is quite the gift opener, that's for sure. He ripped into one of the presents Aunt Sheri got for him before they made it into the living room. Just couldn't wait for his inch worm, I guess. We always have a great time spending the day with Jason's family, and it was extra special this year to have Joshua enjoying himself so much. He was doing a great job playing Santa. We'd hand him a gift and tell him to take it to Grandma or Grandpa or Aunt Sheri and he'd take it right there. And then help unwrap it, of course.
Construction on the new wing of the house will begin in the spring. Just kidding--- but we had to do some serious shuffling to find spaces for all of the toys that now live at Greenbriar Drive. I'm sure Joshua and Grandma are at home today bouncing from toy to toy. The big hits of the Christmas celebration this year for Joshua are his Elmo driver toy from Danaca, his lounge Elmo that we got for him and his new dump truck. He also is really enjoying his new Sesame street singing books from Nana and Pap and his Elmo sweeper from Grandma and Grandpa. Some of mommy's favorites were his "Mister Irresistable" onesie and his baby Gap jeans from Aunt Libby. There's nothing he got that he hasn't already played with and enjoyed, so we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity. It was the gift of everyone's time that meant the most to all of us, so thanks!
When the dust and wrapping paper settled last night, I couldn't help but sit back and be thankful for all of the blessings of the Christmas season. We are truly lucky- and I hope that never gets lost in all of the hustle and bustle of the season. I will always remember this Christmas. It's true that Christmas is for kids, and it was such a blessing to experience that with Joshua.
We hope that all of you enjoyed a blessed holiday. Enjoy some pictures from the festivities!
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