Well, we are back after a long break for the holidays. It is really hard to get excited about going back to work. Looking at my email today was not a good feeling at all. But we must take-on the new year with gusto, so they tell me.
We had a great time visiting family in Colorado. It was cold, but not snowy, and just enough white stuff on the ground to make it feel like Christmas. There were a ridiculous amount of presents to be opened and the kids got so much stuff we had to leave a bunch of it in Colorado, to be delivered on the next grandma/grandpa visit to San Diego.
It was also a tough year for some of us as we had a number of losses this year in the family. There were some heavy moments for me when I looked around and could not avoid noticing those who were not there with us, for the first time. But with loss comes appreciation for what we do have, and we sure have a lot to be thankful for.
Like my sister and her family... Got to see TL and Woody's new house. It was awesome, and they took us to see buffaloes (sp?), and all kinds of other fun activities. We celebrated Megan's birthday, went swimming, went to the park, visited cousin Mike's family. It was great to be close with you guys. Hope we can make that happen again very soon.
We were also fortunate to spend much time with Chris, Joanna, and Nica. They made this amazing 12-course Polish dinner for us on Christmas eve. We opened presents together on Christmas morning. Nica is so beautiful and smart and growing up fast. All of this was of course surrounded by the opulent meals and decorations of Miss Kari and Grandpa Dick.
As for details on the presents, I think American Girl was the theme of choice for Katie this year. Reminds me of Cabbage Patch Kids. For Andy, it was Batman. If you notice the first picture in this post, you'll see that Santa came to visit us this year, in person! It was quite a surprise I can assure you, as he happened to be next door and offered to come inside to see Katie and Andy on Christmas eve. He promised to come back with the presents after they were asleep. The kids were spellbound and more excited than I think I have ever seen them. Katie couldn't believe that Santa would pay her a personal visit and felt sure that she had indeed been good this year if he would take time out of his schedule to come see her on such a busy day.
In terms of gift creativity, I think Jen wins the award for coolest vintage gift. It's no secret that Grandpa Dick is not a easy kid to shop for, and his daughter decided to go on Ebay and find a 1973 donut making machine. (Apparently grandpa used to make all kinds of donuts back in the days of young-Jennifer.) As you can tell by the picture, she hit a clear home-run. Grandpa had it fired-up and working the very next day.
Ill post some more details in the days to come. Happy new year everyone, good fortune, good health, and good love to you all.
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