HERE and GONE

It just goes too fast - one minute you're anticipating Christmas and the next minute it's the day after...........

Even though I had 4 1/2 days off, I believe I need another day at least to catch up! But work beckoned.....sigh.....and life continues.............

Christmas was pure joy -(and maybe a little LOUD at times)! But the best part was just being together with one another - lots of smiles, packages to open, great holiday goodies, fun games, and watching the antics of a 6 year old, a 19 month old, a 22 month old, and a newborn! It really doesn't get much better than that!

And AS USUAL, we didn't get to bring the frog home this year -in fact, Glenn and I did pretty lousy at the predictions and came in 3rd place!! The Smith's and the Savage's tied - but since there is only 1 frog, we always have a tie-breaker question and the Savage's WON!! So Jill and Robby, after carting the frog and all his clothes down to Jaime's, got to haul him back to their house!! I really hope we do a LITTLE better next year as the frog would sure look cute in our house!

Our fondue was EXCELLENT - we all love doing it - but decided since there is SO much work involved and so much cleanup, along with 2 little boys who didn't want to be in their high chairs over 10 minutes, that we will table the fondue for a couple of years at least! After all, next Christmas there will be 4 little ones to contend with!

Even though it hadn't snowed for a few days, it was still a white Christmas at our house - plenty of snow to play in! The little boys and Rayna loved being outside when they could and since Papa had been feeding the deer the last couple of weeks, we had plenty of wildlife to watch! Rayna specifically asked me if Malachi (the deer head that hangs over our fireplace) was one of the deer that had eaten the food that Papa put out - I assured her he wasn't!

Although I believe it is more fun to give than receive, I truly loved the gifts that were given to me! I can't wait to thumb through my book of "1000 Places To See Before You Die", start turning my day to day calendar of "Islands", drink my Caribou Coffee, use my "Scrabble Dictionary" in a game of Scrabble and wear my new comfy pants!! I have already listened to my Casting Crowns Christmas CD "Peace on Earth", worn my new crocs, watched my new DVD "The Lake House" and sat in my body massager - wow does it feel great!! Of course there are a couple of gifts that always stand out and this year was no different - the grandkids gave me a new mouse pad, printed with their pictures and the words,"We love you Nana" - I'll get to use that every day and think of them! And Glenn used his woodworking skills to make me a huge log sign that reads "Nana and Papa's, 876 Obsidian Dr." It will be posted at the bottom of the driveway for everyone to see!!

As you can tell by the pictures, we had a wonderful time together and have lots of memories to remember Christmas 2008!