Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Not sure that anyone is still checking my page here in blogland after my crazy 6-7 week absence.

Sheesh!

Rachelle and her boys were the headlines for quite a while! They did come and sadly go...it was so good to have them around for a bit. My girls loved every minute with them!



Are they not the most handsome boys!?!

The week of their visit marked a crazy time for us. My husband's assistant at the church went out on medical leave and they were having a hard time finding a temporary replacement for her. We threw my name in the hat, partly knowing that it wouldn't even be considered due to nepotism, etc. But we were wrong! We got a shocking call the Sunday after Thanksgiving that I got the job.

So, ever since 11/29, I have been reporting to Jerry 3 days a week up at our church. It has been a whirlwind. With the help of one of my good friends and my precious in-laws taking care of the girls, it has mainly been a delight. So great to get to see Jerry in his role and interact with the church on a different level. Fun to sneak a few lunches with him and get an extra paycheck. But overall, I am tired! Juggling this new endeavor with the holidays and my regular part-time job definitely was a challenge. Many evening events over the past few weeks about put me over the edge! Alas, his assistant is starting back again tomorrow.

So...hello again! What have I missed!?!

Christmas in July: Wisconsin Edition

Getting everyone back to my dad's Wisconsin homestead for Christmas is very difficult...sometimes impossible. Anyone remember the last time we tried in 2007? The quick recap is this: a 2 hour flight with an infant turned into an 8 hour one when our destination airport of Milwaukee closed mid-flight due to too much snow. Baggage? Lost. (if only for 24 hours...still disruptive!)

So after that crazy experience our northern relatives started celebrating "Christmas in July". No gifts to buy, wrap and haul there...just a day spent on the remaining land of the family's original farm.

Four generations of pure fun. Headed up by the lady in pink, my grandma-Shirley Amelia...from whom Jade gets her middle name.



She and my grandpa raised a Brady bunch (3 boys/3 girls) who were dressed in blue (along with their spouses).







Those rowdy six gave my grandma 10 grand kids...who were not going to be the targets of any hunters that day. Yep, safety green was our color.







These grand kids (my cousins) have been slowly marrying (another engagement happened that day!) and quickly producing lots of little pumpkins...13 orange ones could be found throughout the farm. Ranging in age from 4 months to 8 years...with only two little boys in the mix!

2004 babies (above)

2007 babies

After enjoying great food, water balloons, and a pinata...the blues, yellows and oranges all took to riding on some greens. Old and new...both drew crowds...

It was a quick, but very well worth it kind of trip. Before boarding the plane to head home I introduced my pumpkins to another orange thing their mommy loves.

Cheese curds!

The rubbery, chewy, salty little bites of heaven did not last long. Ours must not have been very fresh though. I just learned from Wikipedia that if consumed within 12 hours they actually squeak when you bite into them.

For that I am thankful they were stale...squeaky cheese is a little disturbing don't you think?

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.