Christmas 2008

Well, there have been quite a bit of festivities going on this Christmas season. It has been so busy, it's kind of overwhelming to blog about it all now. There is so much, so I will just have to summarize, and maybe post a few pictures.

It all started on Wednesday the 16th of December. Anthony's mom, sister, sister's beau, and niece flew in to Rochester to start that side of the family's Christmas. We had a lot of fun eating and laughing and visiting for a few days before we had the "official Christmas" on the 20th. We hosted it here, so 14 people eating and laughing and opening gifts in our house. It was so wonderful. We always thought our house was so big until we filled it, it got small quick, especially the kitchen. It was a lot of fun though. Great family, great food, and great fun! His family left on Monday the 22nd. We did Christmas eve with Anthony's brother and family, and Anthony's dad. More great food. I think I ate my weight in fudge and cookies. Oh My Goodness! We got to watch the kids open their presents. It was a lot of fun. I love watching them tear into their presents, and then listen to their witty comments on how cool or not so cool their presents are. They sure were spoiled this year. Christmas eve we came home and had to do our "newlywed Christmas" because Anthony was working days :o( So we set up the video camera (thanks Lenae!), I know, CHEESE, and went to opening our presents. Anthony spoiled me of course. He always does. He is so good to me. Christmas morning we saved one present for eachother because I still wanted to open something together on our first wed Christmas, but since he had to leave for work at 6:30, it had to be quick. So he went off to work and I just layed around for a bit. When he got home we went to my Grandma's house in the B-lo. We had a quick Christmas there, where thanks to a loving family member who gave us the Flu for Christmas, we spent the rest of our weekend in bed so sick.

So, that's the holiday in a nutshell. I will try to attach a few pics to show the time we had with family. I need to get better at keeping up on this so I dont' have so much at one time to post!

Hope all your Christmas' were wonder-filled. The greatest gift of all came in the form of a baby. Lying in a manger. Wow. Just remember that gift all year round.

I win!

Tonight was the 4th annual P4K Christmas party. It was a fantastic time. After months of planning, and literally days of shopping for it, it was a blast. We had dinner catered from Taste of Texas, and after we had a wreath decorating contest. Then it was yummy snacks, a cozy fire, and games all around. After clean up, it was a 14 hour day with P4K. Fun, but definately exhausting. Here are some pics from the night...and before you ask, yes, Becca and I are wearing matching outfits. We do every year for the Christmas party, she always wears green, and I always wear red.

















The pictures don't even do justice to all the festive fun we had, but I can try!

I am not as quick at posting as some...;o)

This past friday, Anthony and had our first tradition as a married couple of decorating our home for Christmas. We had a few decorations already (and by we I mean me), and we went out and bought a few new ones to complete the Christmas "touch". We decorated the house while listening to Christmas music til almost 2am. While we were outside wrapping the columns on our porch in red ribbon and hanging giant red and silver ornaments, we looked across the street and our neighbors were out setting up their Christmas decorations as well. We thought we were the only crazy ones decorating into the wee hours of the night! Here are a few pictures of the decorations:


Our Nativity set


Our basket of cinnamon pinecones


Our balcony in the foyer


Our stairway



Our front porch/door

And last but not least, the front door...



Now I know this is getting a little long, but I would like to share one more part of our Christmas decor...my most favorite part..the Christmas tree! We went and got our tree last night, and decorated it tonight. I am so excited to have a real tree, it's been so long. I had so much fun picking out just the right one, setting it up, trimming it, and then putting the finishing touches on it. Here are some pictures of it:










And just for kicks...



May your holiday season be a blessed one, from our family to yours!