We've recovered enough to post about it

Christmas 2008...what a whirlwind. If I'm counting right, we sat around various trees on six different occasions to exchange gifts with our loved ones. Whew!

We started celebrating with my Dad and Kim on the 21st and I am sad that I didn't get one good picture of them that day...shame, shame. Kim decorates every square inch of their house...even the ceiling in one room this year...it is quite amazing. Again, no pictures. I do have one of my girls and my niece in their matching dresses though.

Christmas Eve morning is when we traditionally celebrate with our own little family of four. The girls get matching PJs that they open on the evening of the 23rd so they can wake up ready for photos. I botched that plan though by taking my dad out for his 60th birthday that night and totally forgot about the PJ plan. So we just threw them on quickly Christmas Eve morning.



The remainder of Christmas Eve is when we celebrate with my mom and my sister's family. We hosted this year and even got out the china. I'm pretty sure Lily was thinking...what is this stuff? She loved getting to eat on "breakable" dishes.

We did a late night drive to E. Texas where we celebrated for the next several days with two parts of Jerry's family. Christmas morning is generally just with my in-laws and then more and more family arrives until we've celebrated with second cousins twice removed...or whatever.

Our apologies to Memmy...Lily has begun picking out gifts all by herself. Memmy happily found this unsightly frog a prominent home. She's a good woman, that Memmy.
Lily's treasured present this year was the Easy Bake Oven.
While Jade relished over a new box of Goldfish found in her stocking. At least their excitement over food comes naturally...straight from their momma.
A good shot of some of the cousins.

It started out warm on Christmas day and then it turned colder. We decided to make smores in the Gibson's outdoor fireplace. Again, no pictures. I did capture Jerry cutting down some firewood though. Note to self: "green" wood doesn't really burn. Two trips to the store later for "starter wood", we were able to make a fire. I'm pretty sure that a bundle of $3 firewood would have done the trick from the start. What is it about guys needing to play lumberjack for a day?

We had a nice walk through the family's property. Jade did not like walking on the soft ground, not stable enough for her new walking legs I guess. Paw obliged to carrying her. I thought Lily was going to have her first experience of pottying in the woods, but when the idea was proposed to her she was quickly able to hold it.

That's my little princess...solidified by playing Disney Princess on the new Wii during any unscheduled moment we had. Daddy is pretty good at that game too...apparently he knows his way around a castle better than a tennis court or bowling alley. I've been whoopin' him at Wii sports...with the exception of boxing. His mom and I have decided that he takes a little too much pleasure in being able to knock me out.