Christmas Cheer

Thankfulness Day 28
Today was a hard, slow day. After seeing my grandma last night perhaps for the last time, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. We decided to go ahead and get our Christmas tree tonight to try and bring some cheer into our house. After putting our perfectly shaped tree up and carefully arranging the strands of 1,100 lights and having my two helpers (Troy and Jackson) help decorate the tree, I felt a little better. Call me silly, but today, I am thankful for Christmas cheer. It helped distract from a not-so-cheerful situation.

Christmas Day and More

I must admit that have three separate Christmases in one day is very difficult. Instead of feeling relaxed with the family, I felt rushed and stressed. What do all you married people do to spend enough time with both families at Christmas? If there is some sort of trick to it, let me know!

Of course, it didn't help that Jackson, Madelyn, and I were all sick, and Troy wasn't feeling all that well either. But, besides all that, we saw all of both of the families (except for my Grandma Fran...we missed her! And Mike and Gen!) in one day. I wish I had more time with both families. I wish Christmas was officially celebrated over two days, not one! Could we get that changed? :)

Jackson was ecstatic to open gifts. He absolutely loved the idea of getting toys and books, and wasn't so excited about clothes. That's a toddler for you! Although, I was excited about his clothes! Although, I must say, he was very proud to wear his new Thomas pajamas that he got from his GG Teddy. We were very blessed to get all that we received this year. It almost felt weird opening all the gifts because we couldn't afford as much for our families this year. But, it isn't about that really!

Christmas was a bit different for my side of the family this year because Michael wasn't there. Since him and Gen moved to Washington, they couldn't make it down for Christmas. We missed them! But, Jackson was able to open the gift they sent him via video chat. I'm thankful for technology!

I look forward to next Christmas when we aren't so sleep deprived and I can do more of what I wanted to do this season, like the Jesse Tree, a spin on the advent calendar. Here are some more photos from Christmas day....enjoy!

Christmas in a Flash

Christmas seemed to come and go this season. Here is a bit of an overview!

Preparation

This was the first year that Jackson was able to take part in the preparation of Christmas. He helped decorate "his" tree with little Peanuts Nativity ornaments. Troy shared all this Peanuts Christmas decorations with Jackson and there were even some he could play with!

Jackson was also able to help with some holiday baking. We pulled a chair up to the counter and he helped me make chocolate brownies and frosting. He was really good at holding the measuring cup while I measured ingredients and helping me stir everything. His specialty, though, was the taste-testing the frosting! I did a lot of "baking" this season. For some reason, I really, really enjoyed it. I found a few recipes that turned out really well. One of my favorites was the Oreo Truffles. They were really rich, but absolutely perfect with a glass of milk! I also made some Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies that were delicious. I suspect these delicious desserts may be the cause of my lack of weight loss this holiday season!

Parties!

We had a few parties to attend this season. We hosted our 4th Annual Tacky Ski Sweater Caroling Party. That was a success, although, Troy and I were very tired after it and decided to do this tradition every-other year, perhaps. I know all you party-goers would be disappointed to hear that! For this party, everyone (or almost everyone) came to our place sporting their tackiest of tacky sweaters. We had a contest for the tackiest sweaters. Tim and Michelle were our finalist, and Michelle was voted the winner. We also went to a near-by nursing home and sang Christmas Carols. This was my favorite part of the night. I enjoy the smiles and reactions we get from the people in the nursing home.

We also attended our 12th Annual Citrus Group Party. I look forward to this party every year. This is a yearly get-together of the "Citrus Group" (a group of Troy's friends from college) and their wives. This party is always fun because all his friends have really become my friends too. Kimm always does a great job of hosting! We ate dinner, talked, laughed, cried (well only some of the kids, who will remain nameless). The kids decorated gingerbread men (Thanks, Tess!). We also had a gift exchange and the kids had a used book exchange. All together, as it is every year, it was great fun!

The Mission Inn

Every year, we try to make it to the Mission Inn to look at the beautiful light display there. This year, we actually made it to the lighting of the Mission Inn! We went with Joey and Kirsty and met both of our families down there. Jackson really enjoyed the fireworks. We also had the opportunity to go down to the Mission two more times with friends. Every year it seems there are more lights up! Apparently,

there was over three and a half million lights on the Mission Inn for the 2009 Festival of Lights. Amazing! The only critique I have for the Festival of Lights is that they keep their stores in the downtown mall open later! We were trying to find a place to eat around 7pm on a weeknight and every restaurant was closed! It seems to me that they are missing out on a lot of business!

Presents

It has become somewhat of a tradition to give our families framed photos of us for Christmas. This time around, I wanted the photos to be special and creative, so I asked my brother-in-law, David to take them. They turned out well! I'm posting some of my favorites. To wrap the framed photos, I purchased a roll of plain brown paper for 25 cents, and a set of finger paints from Target. I rolled the paper out on the floor, put the paint on paper plates, put Jackson in some old clothes, and let him have a go at decorating the paper himself. I loved to see his creative side come out! He got paint all over himself, me, the kitchen floor, and, of course, the wrapping paper. It was well worth it because each recipient of a photo frame also got a little masterpiece from Jackson! I may make this a tradition as well!

Family

The holiday season is always a fun time to get together with extended family. Troy's aunt and uncle from Missouri came down for a visit the week of Christmas. We had a blast going to their favorite sandwich shop, D'elias Grinders, which, I'm going to say has wonderful sandwiches, my favorite being the Chicken BLT. Its always a treat to go there!
We also went to Logan's Candy Shop where we saw candy canes being made. This was very interesting to watch and we got fresh, warm samples at the end of the tour. I will never eat a cold candy cane again! (I hope Angie doesn't mind, I borrowed the photo from her blog!)

Dress

Madelyn's first Christmas dress...sweet!

Christmas Day

Sorry folks...Christmas Day deserves a blog post of it's own, so I will post that ASAP! :)

Christmas

I am finally getting around to posting about our Christmas! On Christmas day, we woke up to a cold, wet morning. I really enjoyed the cold, wet holiday because I can't remember the last time we had one here! In the morning, we (Troy, Jackson and I), opened gifts as a family. Troy got me a new camera, which I am totally excited about! The camera is pink, too! After opening gifts at our house, we went over to Troy's parent's house and had lunch with the family. We also opened presents there. Terry and Jan were in from Missouri, so that made it extra fun (they are also fun to hang out with!). The lunch was delicious! After lunch, we headed to the hospital to hang out with the family there.Troy opening the Seinfeld Scene It game I got for him. Jackson and I looking at one of the gifts Troy and I got him...touch and feel flashcards. He is really enjoying learning from them and can already say several of the words!Troy wanted to surprise me with some Christmas pictures of Jackson with my new camera.......somehow Troy forgot to put shoes on Jackson!!!

David and Robyn got Jackson New Balance shoes that matched Troy's....so cute!Jackson discovered coloring on Christmas day.
That discovery led to eating crayons. Green was his preference.The Spread. (And Jan.)Jackson fell asleep while eating. The poor boy was so tired from opening all the gifts!
All I can say was that my stomach was VERY full when I took this picture. I think everyone else's was too!Jackson and Troy at the hospital. Jackson loves going to the hospital. He gets to play with Nolan (who he has really enjoys), and he loves to run the halls (which we rarely let him do.) Christmas day, the waiting room was so crowded, we let Jackson have a shot at running down the hall.
So, he ran...
...and ran......and ran! Good thing I can catch up to him, at least for now!

Oops...

I forgot to include this photo in the last post. Genevieve, me, and Jenni on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve

This year, Troy and I spent Christmas Eve with my family. Genevieve, Michael's fiance was nice enough to let us use her house for the get together. We had a lot of fun and I actually liked it better because I got to spend a lot more time with both of our families this way.

Genevieve and Michael with the ornament that Michael proposed with.
Jackson's favorite thing about Genevieve's house was the stairs. Up and down...up and down! A special thanks to all who climbed up and down with him!These sisters know who to have fun! (Sorry, I couldn't resist posting this picture...it makes me smile!)Four generations: Jackson, Jackson's Mom, Jackson's Grandma, Jackson's Great-Grandma!The four siblings...Michael, Me, Jenni, and Tim(my)....the last time we all took a picture together was my wedding!Me and my sis!
The family photo...it has been a loooong time since we all took a photo together!

My Aunt got this dog for Jackson. The lights on the antlers light up and the dog sings "Winter Wonderland." Jackson was mesmerized!
Happy Boy!
Happy Grandmas!
Jackson: Model. When a camera is around, he stops and poses. Jackson in his Christmas PJs. Genevieve and Michael with the "bride and groom" gingerbread cookies I decorated for them.

The dinner spread.
The snack spread. Don't think we were lacking anything!