But wait! There's more!

If you thought the Christmas festivities were over, oh boy, were you wrong! We had some holly jolly gift-giving with the Franklin side of the family Saturday afternoon. This holiday extravaganza had been postponed from Christmas Day as Keith and Zack's plane was delayed. And then Glenn and I made everyone wait even longer with our post-baptism clean-up. When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we found the gifts had been handed out and everyone was in their places ready to go!
How lovely to be cheered on as you open your gifts...(and oh yes, this went on for every. single. gift.)


We sure are loving having the whole family here!

Man of the Hour

So Andrew turned 8. (Which apparently I never blogged about. Oops.)

And we all know what that means. It means it's time for a baptism.

(If you didn't know that's what it meant, you can read about it here.)

Once again, just like last year, the family came together for this extra-special day in Andrew's life. Once again, it was tagged onto the end of Christmas, which meant a little more stress. Once again, there was no reason to be stressed because everything turned out fine. Once again, we were so proud of the simple faith of a child.

But there were a couple differences this year. Andrew got to share his special day with a friend. And this time around, there were a lot more kids involved in the program. Andrew asked Tyler and Zack to give the talks, and Emma and Leah took over the music. Can you say wow? These are some pretty impressive kids.

After both Andrew and my tears were dry, there was of course, one fantastic meal.

So grateful.
So happy.
So proud of my boy.

Did ya think I forgot?

At last, the long-awaited answers to the Christmas crossword puzzle...

(I know it has just been BUGGING you to death)

Across:
1. SWIM
3. PRESIDENT
5. CUB
7. OUTDOOR
9. GREETINGS
12. THREE
13. BALLET

Down:
2. BAPTISM
3. PLAY
4. REUNION
5. CLASS
6. WEEKEND
8. WORKING
10. TEETH
11. HIGH
14. SOLO

So how did you do? Anyone get 100%?

(Anyone care?)

So this is Christmas...

...Christmas Eve Eve party at Jill's...

...Christmas Eve pizza and game night...
(Grandma and Grandpa took care of the movie part by taking the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks in the afternoon)

...Ready for Santa...


...Together again for Christmas morning...



So this is Christmas...

...and so is this...

Christmas...family, food, carols...and a dance party!

'Twere the two weeks before Christmas...

...and all through the city

The school music programs were showing no pity.
Band concerts, choir concerts, even a 4th grade play--
There must have been a performance every other day.
But the music and the singing and the acting of parts
Brought the spirit of the season in to each of our hearts.
So while all those performances made for extra duress,
Watching those angelic children was worth all the stress.

Leah at the choir concert

Emma at the band concert

Brooke as Jangle the Elf

A warning to those family members who will be visiting this holiday season...
we recorded the play off of the local cable access channel, so there may be a viewing or two of Brooke's oustanding performance!

Bah.

Why does having the Christmas spirit mean that I have to drape every inch of my house with fake greenery and hokey decorations? How on earth could I ever feel like fa-la-la-ing when my halls are already decked with with backpacks, shoes, dirty dishes, bags of groceries, piles of papers, and tossed-aside clothes?

Christmas, I was just not that in to you.

But the kids persisted, worrying that Christmas was getting closer and closer and we still did not have the tree up. So I very half-heartedly (is there such thing as quarter-heartedly?) agreed that we could start the decorating Sunday night. The tree came up. Then the box of ornaments. Then the four boxes of more stuff. I became less enthusiastic as more junk found its way upstairs.

The kids took care of the tree and I got to work on my job of filling every possible surface with all things Santa, snowmen, and nativities, dragging my feet all the way.

Until I was done. I just had to be done.

Next year the counters will be wiped down, the table will be cleared off, blankets will be folded and put away, and the house will generally be in a much neater state before we add more clutter. Lesson learned.

Monday afternoon I was feeling much more positive towards the most wonderful time of the year. While I didn't put out everything that I have in the past, the untrained eye will never know. Glenn put the lights on a timer and the empty boxes back downstairs. And by Monday evening we were ready for the crowning moment of Christmas prep.

Yeah, this is the first year Glenn has not had to assist in the tree topping.

So I've finally come around. It is looking a lot like Christmas around here. And I'm ok with that.

T.G.I.B.F.

Top ten reasons to be grateful for Black Friday...


10. It means that the morning before we lazed around watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

9. It means we are full of great cousin time, a delish turkey (thank you Reynold's oven bags), and side dishes to die for.

8. It means the tip the the fingernail I sliced off while chopping herbs for the sourdough dressing has had 24 hours to heal.

7. It means three more football games are under our belts.

6. It means we have gone through the ads over and over and made our plan of attack.5. It means the kids had a great sleep over with the Ryans.

4. It means that I got to eat my traditional sourdough-turkey-mayonnaise-cranberry-jello-salad sandwich. I don't care what you think. It is mighty tasty.

3. It means that we survived little sleep, long lines, and the crazy people in front of us at Walmart who DID NOT grasp the whole Black Friday concept AT ALL.
(Listen, peeps, ya don't buy 4 quarts of motor oil and baby lotion at 5 a.m.
You're wasting my time, and the time of the hundreds of people in line behind me.
And while you're at it, learn how to use the ATM thingy that is at every single cash register at
just about every single store across this great country. Seriously.)

2. It means that I had another day with Glenn home.

~And the number one reason to show Black Friday some love~

1. It means that after all that yummy, stuffed-to-the-rafters food and all that warm and fuzzy family togetherness...

there is still pizza and movie night.