Christmas Eve 2009

12/24/09: Christmas Eve 2009. Where to begin...... So first of all it was our families first Christmas in Idaho. We were all so excited. We have all been looking forward to this day for a long time. And of course it was a blast. There is nothing better then a house full of your family. All the kids running around playing together. It was a little crazy, but in a good way. Happiness all around.

So to start the day off, first of all, it did NOT snow, so we were all a little bitter about that. So we made due anyway. Our Christmas Eve started out with opening a few little Christmas eve gifts from Aunt Bonnie. That is always a treat. The kids could barely wait. Everyone came over to my parents house, and we started cooking and getting the meal ready. However, my Dad ACCIDENTALLY bought the wrong ham, he thought he grabbed a pre-cooked ham, but grabbed a smoked ham that was not fully cooked. Oops!!!! And of course we did not realize this until later in the day when it was not ready when we thought. So to save the day, Kely's mom Karen was on her way over so she stopped at Alberston's and bought a whole mess of fried chicken. So we had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner of all the fixens and store bought fried chicken. Which worked out just fine because it was so good. And then we had ham for Christmas dinner. It was going to take 11 hours for the ham to cook!!!! Again, oops!!!! But it all worked out and we all had a good laugh on top of it.

My mom worked really hard to put together a very nice Christmas skit that reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. Each family had a small part, and the kids all sang a few Christmas songs for us. It was so sweet. And of course Lauren shined at this. She is a bit of a ham herself. Only in the comfort of her family though. Then the kids got to decorate a big paper Christmas tree with items from the Christmas skit my mom did. It was fun and turned out to be a nice reminder of what Christmas is all about. Good Job Mom!!! And Thanks for all your hard work.

Then came opening presents time!!!! Holy Cow!!!! Let's just say that the kids in my family are not lacking any love!!!! Marianne made us girls some great scarves she made herself and my Mom and Dad bought us each a beautiful ornament and made us a beautiful gift of a ceramic Jesus kneeling in prayer. It was beautiful, and as most of you know my mom's hands do not work really well, so this was an extremely hard and painful project for her to accomplish, and made it even more wonderful to recieve. Again, Thanks mom!!!

Then the kids got some great gifts from Grandma & Grandpa. Too many to list. Then Grandpa brought out the big guns....literally!!!! Grandpa comes out of the bedroom with BAGS FULL of Nerf guns and bow & arrows, and refill ammo. All the boys' face lit up. There was one for all the dads and all the boys. Then the Nerf war began.........caos struck everywhere in the house. Running and screaming and ducking and diving. It was hilarious. Dad even bought saftely goggles for all the boys so that no one got hit in the eyes. Good job for being responsible Dad!!! I have never seen the boys and men laughing so hard all together, young and old. It was a great moment. What a terrific memory.

Then after the caos calmed, everyone just hung out and had some yummy dessert. As the night came to an end, and it got late, we all packed up our loot and headed home to finish some last minute preperations for Santa!!!! What a night.