by Clint
Christmas 2013 lived up to our 2013 moto of "fair and bright." We
officially started festivities on Friday, December 20 at 5:00pm. After a
long semester leading up to a very long week, I picked up Vietnamese
and headed home. Ice was moving in, and we were debating our trip to
Siloam on Saturday. Uncle A was on his way and battling the ice.
Everyone was exhausted, so we ate, watched cartoons, and went to bed.
Saturday
brought more ice, but we decided to go to Siloam to join the Wright
family celebration. Melanie put together a scavenger hunt for the kids,
and they loved it. The hunt ended with all of the kids getting $100 from
their Mimi and Kimbo, and then we all headed to Toys R Us. One of the
big highlights of the Toys R Us trip was the fact that we did not have
any major melt downs. The kids picked out their toys and we all headed
to Golden Corral for a wholesome meal of assorted fried food fragments
with the rest of Arkansas. Golden Corral is apparently a pre-Christmas
favorite for a lot of people, especially in Arkansas.
Sunday
was a relaxed day around Arkansas. Mimi put together an excellent meal
of steak, potatoes, and vegetables. We had a great day, and we all
remembered what a great blessing it is to have Mimi with us healthy and
happy!!
Uncle A visited us on Monday morning for coffee
and to play with the boys. I had a haircut in the morning, and then I
took the boys with me on last minute Christmas errands. One of our new
favorite Christmas traditions is lochs and bagels for breakfast on
Christmas Eve, so I took the boys to the Old School Bagel cafe to get a
dozen bagels. We ran into Uncle A at the bagel shop. We really enjoyed
the bagels, and we plan to keep up the bagel tradition. We had our
second annual game night on December 23 with Uncle A, Grammy, and
Grandpa. The boys had a great time playing operation and eating treats.
Christmas
Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. We started this year with
Lochs and Bagels and egg whites. Excellent breakfast. We relaxed,
colored, played, drank coffee, and had a great time. Sawyer and I spent a
lot of time together during nap time. We read the Christmas Carol,
wrapped Paul's gift, and colored. I really love spending one-on-one time
with my boys. Sawyer and I love to color, draw, read, play outside, and
build legos together. One of my favorite things about Christmas is
having dedicated time to spend with my boys. We went to Grammy and
Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve festivities. Grammy worked hard to
make a really nice meal, and we had a great time. GG drove up for the
night and enjoyed seeing the boys. We had Kennys, listened to "Kentucky
Homemade Christmas" and had a great time.
Christmas
morning started as I expected. The first thing I saw on Christmas
morning was Sawyer's face, and then I heard him tell me that it was time
to wake up. I told him to go look to see if Santa came. He came back
with a big smile and said that he saw a lot of presents, including a
Nutcracker. He was so excited. He ran back in to see what else he could
find. Melanie and I heard one of the happiest noises that we had ever
heard from him. He ran back and said that Santa had brought him a
stuffed lego man. He was so happy. Melanie and I slowly got up, and soon
Beau and Paul joined us. We opened up stockings for a long time and
then ate breakfast casserole. I made the casserole this year, and it was
good. Breakfast casserole is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
We played with toys and had fun. We didn't open the tree presents until
Grammy, Grandpa, and Uncle A came over. They brought everyone a lot of
really nice presents. Melanie cooked an amazing meal of cornish hens,
chestnut stuffing, bread, vegetables, and pear pie (made from pears from
the farm). We ate, opened presents, and had a great time together.
Happy Birthday Jesus!
