Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was wonderful. So wonderful that I can't even think of a witty or sarcastic title for this blog entry. The only bad thing about it was how fast the holidays crept up on me. I felt rushed, not entirely ready for the actual day to arrive, but when it did, I wondered what I had been stressing out about. Christmas was perfect despite a few of our cards sure to not arrive in their recipients mailboxes until after New Years, despite the mess in the house, and even despite me being on call for the clinic all weekend.

We got our tree the day after Thanksgiving, at the local feed store. The boy scouts were selling them for 10 bucks. It was a little bit of a Charlie Brown tree, but it sure looked good with all of our mismatched mish-mass of ornaments on its branches! Our ornament collection is a box full of memories. The ornaments, mostly mine, were given to me by my parents or friends or relatives as I grew up, and then came with me when I started my own family. The newest ornaments on the tree belong to the kids, and will eventually follow them to their households for their family Christmas trees. The kids love hearing stories about each ornament when we hang them up!



Of course Santa came to visit Palouse. Unfortunately, I did not get a good picture, because both kids were too busy telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas to turn around and smile at me. I am now 50% on good Santa pictures. Maybe next year. We did enjoy our wagon ride though!




The Christmas program at church was entertaining, as always. The big kids did an awesome job singing their songs, and the little kids...well...they did a great job putting on a show!



Christmas Eve is one of my favorite nights of the year. I love the Christmas Eve service at the church. All the kiddos get to come in their PJ's. Lola especially enjoyed getting to hold her own candle for Silent Night this year. Wil and I were slightly worried about the church's fire policy, but she did ok. After the service, we went home to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and of course carrots for Rudolph. I thought that last year was Lola's final Christmas believing in Santa Claus, but she seemed to enjoy the idea of him this year. Maybe she was just playing make believe, and maybe not, but it was fun to watch the kids put out those cookies, and whisper to each other about how Santa would make it down our chimney without burning his behind. Both kids went to sleep fairly easily that night, which was awesome. About 11 pm, I couldn't find Ivy to put her in her kennel. I found her downstairs, keeping watch for Santa with Lola.



Christmas morning brought stockings full of fun, and gifts under the tree. Soon the house was a complete disaster, and Wil and I were cursing the toy manufacturers that insist on locking up the toy cars and horses like Fort Knox. Seriously, why would they feel the need to make you go get a freakin' screwdriver to release a toy airplane from it's cardboard prison? And the twisty wires? Come on people, do you need to wind them six thousand times around Barbie's wrists? And what is with sewing the cardboard and wire device to Barbie's actual hair? Honestly, the people who designed those next to impossible toy trapping cuss inducing contraptions must have never had to listen to a toddler repeating "Where's my airplane? Can I have my airplane? I need my airplane" over and over while sustaining strangulating wire injuries to their fingers trying to remove said airplane.




We have since settled down, gotten most of the Christmas decorations put away, and are back to the usual routine. Here are the kids and the dogs enjoying a leftover box.


Anyway, aside from a few minor temper tantrums (mostly mine) the holidays were great. Thank you all our friends and family for the cards, gifts, parties, and good times. We appreciate you all, and wish you all a very happy 2011!

Oh, and an update on Rio, here he is at horsey boot camp, learning to be a real horse! He will come home next month. Yeah!