Merry Christmas

Sorry that I have not posted about Christmas yet. This was a weird and crazy Christmas for me. It was a conglomeration of some crazy emotions. Let me break it down for you.

This year was the first Christmas in SEVERAL years that we were able to spend with my parents. We were so excited that their furlough this year would fall over Christmas so we could spend some time with them. We all went to Guatemala last December and celebrated a little early, but this year, we were together on Christmas Day. That was extra special.

 Even though we weren't in Guatemala, we did celebrate Guate Style with some Ponche. This is a hot cider punch that is very typical, especially for special occasions. I'll consider Christmas with the fam and very special occasion that calls for the best!!!

Although I was super excited to spend time with my parents and siblings, the boys (Mike, David, and Chris) weren't able to be with us this year and that made us all super sad. Mike, as you know, is in Afghanistan for a few more months. It was neat to be able to talk to him via Skype, but definitely not the same!! David and Chris were both scheduled to work the weekend of Christmas. Hard for some to believe, but crime does not take off for the holidays. Somebody still has to patrol the streets and keep us safe. This year, that fell to our boys. Well, it actually only fell to Chris, since David did not end up working.

David and I decided that the best thing for us to do this year would be to split up for Christmas. It isn't our favorite thing to do, but it has to work for us some times. We've done it before, and I'm sure we'll have to do it again before it is all over. I went to Georgia to be with my family, and he stayed here in South Carolina to work and spend some time with his family. David had missed a few days of work the week before Christmas due to a cold/cough, but we didn't think too much of it...until Christmas Eve. David and Stryker took a call Friday night that had him running through the woods late that pretty chilly evening. (Don't worry, Strykie caught the bad guy girl!!) That track did not do well with the cough/cold that he already had. Apparently he got progressively worse, since Christmas Eve night I got a call from his dad saying that they were in the ER with him...diagnosis - Pneumonia. Seriously?! On Christmas?? When I am far away in GA?? Thankfully, they did not keep him in the hospital but gave him some meds and sent him on home. Before you judge me...I did ask several times if he wanted me to come on home. He told me not to cut my time with my family short since his mom and dad were close by if he needed anything. So, there I was torn...worrying about him and wondering if I should ignore him and come home or stay and continue visiting with my family. UGH!! It was a LONG night!! In the end, we both decided that it was best that I stay where I was, so I did.

See, already...happy and sad...joy and stress...EMOTIONS!!

On Christmas Eve, the girls had a little Craft Time. My mom found a cute Christmas ornament and knew that we could easily recreate it for much cheaper. Boy, was she right. It was so fun working together and getting everyone Creative Juices flowing.

Here are some our ornaments...aren't they super cute?!

Stephen was not able to come visit until Christmas Day, so we decided to wait and open presents together. That is...everyone but MaMa (my Grandma) had to wait. We let her go ahead and open her presents. I had painted her a Christmas painting and was very excited to give it to her. As you know, I am toying with some amateur painting, and it is getting more and more fun to give those paintings away, although it is nerve wracking to watch their expression and see if they really do like it or not. Some times it is hard to tell, but as MaMa told me later...Anything hand made by her grandkids is always better than store bought. I'll take that any day!

On Christmas morning, we do what we have done ever since I was a small child...we packed up the car and headed to Adrian. Now back in the day, we always met in Dublin, but over the years we have moved the festivities over to Adrian. What you need to understand about my dad's family is that we don't have a typical Christmas family meal around the dinner table. No, I don't think there is a table big enough for that! I think I've told you before, he is the youngest of 10 kids. Add grandkids, great grandkids and great great grandkids plus spouses to that mix and you've got a whole slew of people! In previous years, we rented the cafeteria at one of the local schools for our gathering. Now that we meet in Adrian, we have started using the Fellowship Hall at the Baptist Church. It is so much fun to get together, eat and just hang out ALL DAY LONG!!

We usually spend the night (or a few nights) but my parents thought it would be nice to go back to their house where we could celebrate Christmas - just the 6 of us - like old times. My mom counted back and figured out it was the first time that the 6 of us were together, at their house, on Christmas Day in 9 years ago!! I think we were a little overdue!! Don't you?? This year, instead of all the gifts, we decided to do 2 things - a $10 Gift Card Exchange (Dirty Santa Style) and a "Favorite Things Bag". (Of course this idea came from Pinterest.) It proved to be a GREAT idea. This post is getting long, so I won't go in to detail...promise me you'll click the link to the "A Bushel and A Peck" blog and read about it!! Promise!! It is well worth your time!!

We did do some presents for the 'rents. Yes, I did another painting. This one I was SO excited about. Don't you remember back in September when I showed you the first painting that I did for my Dad's birthday?? Well, I had this painting in mind originally, but wasn't able to do it then since I didn't have all the colors that I needed. I waited and practiced. Finally, I was able to sit down and paint this for them.

It is a Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. They have collected a lot of quetzals through the years and have decorated their house in Guate using a lot of them. Is this a Warhol or Picaso?! Absolutely not, but I was pretty proud of it.

I cut my trip a day early and came back home to check on David and spend my last day off work with him. See, I'm not the horrible person that you were thinking I am!! As usual though, even though I took a few extra days off of work, the break from reality did not seem to last long enough! I am back to work and David is still on the mend. We are looking forward to a new year...2012...who would have thunk it?!