The Christmas Weekend

We are a few days after the Christmas holiday and seemed to have survived! :)  Actually, for all that 2011 has been for us, Christmas was a nice relief to just sit back and enjoy family.  It was a little weird not having Grandma Jeane or Grandpa Ted with us (and it is still weird not having Grandpa Bill after almost 4 years now), but I think everyone was able to look past the grief this year has brought and really enjoy themselves and each others company.

The kids had a blast, of course. It is offiicially that time again to go through the toy bins and see what we can give away to make room for the crazy amount of toys and games they received once again this year. Every year we really work with the kids on how we can give to others that are not as fortunate as they are. It warms my heart that this year Kylee has actually thought about what she can do before I even mentioned it to her.

I think this Christmas was by far my favorite so far. Brian and I were able to enjoy a full day on Christmas Eve with the kids, just us - they got to open their presents from us, bake cookies for Santa and we let them know about our upcoming DisneyWorld trip (which soooo didn't go as planned, but the excitement grows each day as we get closer). We later enjoyed our church service at Vintage (which is always such an incredible service) and a song service at my parents church.

Christmas day of course was as crazy as anyone else's. We started at 5:30a.m. with Santa and then by 6:00a.m. we were at my parents. Noon at my aunt & uncles and dinner at Brian's parents house. We made a full day of it for sure and enjoyed every minute. Thankfully I had Monday off to recover from it all before having to go back to work.

What A Weekend

I think I am finally getting caught back up on life and can start writing here a bit more frequently again. I just finished a huge project over this weekend (that has taken me months - thanks to a minor mishap of my zip drive breaking right as I was finishing it the first time). I completed a DVD for my family with it starting back in the late 1940's early 1950's and working its way all the way up to today. It feels incredible to be getting ready to burn all 26 copies for family members and get to pass them out this upcoming weekend at our Christmas party. (And this time it is all saved on a removable hard drive and backed up on my hard drive - No way am I starting this project over again.) :)

This was a pretty big weekend for my baby sister too - she graudated Magma Cum Laude from UNC with her degree in Performing Arts. She is hopefully going to move on to becoming a Music Teacher here at a local school somewhere soon. I am so proud of her! What a huge accomplishment to not only graduate, but with honors and in a program that she actually had to apply and audition for, in order to enter. She worked so incredibly hard. I know she'll find a great school full of very lucky kids for her to teach! Congratulations Jamie on an incredible accomplishment. I know you will do great!