Christmas

We had an interesting Christmas this year. Sydney and I had tickets to go to The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. A blizzard (slight exaggeration) blew in that day but we made the terrifying drive to downtown Fort Worth to see the ballet because the tickets were non-refundable. I am so glad we did because it was beautiful. But while we were there we got the disappointing news that Grandy and Grumpa had to turn back because the road conditions were really bad. By the time the ballet ended the weather had worsened and I knew mom and dad had made the right choice as sad as it was. Sydney and I made it home safe and sound, but my knuckles were white and the steering wheel is permanently imprinted with my finger marks.
After arriving home, the kids opened their family gifts. They got all kinds of fun stuff from Mom and Dad.




Our plans that evening were completely altered because of this severe snow storm. We were expecting my parents, and 3 other couples to come spend the evening with us. We ended up only having one family over. They live in the same town and come from Utah, so they weren't afraid of driving. We really enjoyed their company and I am so glad they were willing to make the drive over. We played Sydney's new game, Catchphrase, with them.

Christmas morning the kids woke us up at 7 am. This is probably the earliest they have ever had us up. They got what they wanted for the most part. Apparently Sydney really wanted an Ipod touch. She got Rock Band 2 and Beatles versions. This would have been a great gift except a week before Christmas the Wii broke and had to be sent off for repairs. So she didn't get what she really wanted and the thing she did get that she would have been happy with she didn't even get to play with the whole day. Maybe this wouldn't have been so bad had Jack and Katie not played with their DSi's in front of her all day. Sad day. She didn't even let on that she was disappointed until the very end of the night. I sure felt like a bad mom for not noticing. She never asks for anything and would never intentionally let on that she was less than thrilled with everything. Dad was a little more clued in than mom this time and he pried until he got it out of her. What a sweet girl she is.
Jack got the much desired DSi he has been wanting for years. He also got a guitar, a real guitar, the acoustic kind. He's been asking for one of those too. I'm excited about the idea of having a guitar player in the house.
Katie got a DSi too. She has played all day. She and Aunt Lindsey had an hour long pictochat today while we were visiting.
Jesse got an ice cream maker, the counter top kind that doesn't require ice or rock salt. The man was thrilled and in the middle of the blizzard last night was making ice cream.
Me-I got a robot. It's called the iRobot Roomba and it sweeps my floors. It is a dream. It just wanders all over my house looking for dirt to sweep up. I never knew I wanted one, but now that it's here, I will never want to live without it. My techie husband comes through again!

We went to Lindsey and Les's house for Christmas dinner this afternoon. It was a nice evening. Lindsey and I decided to do the 12 days of Christmas food. We came up with a whole menu based on the song. It was really fun. The only problem was Mom was providing a few days so we only had the 9 days of Christmas. We loved it even without our other 3 days.

Even with all the glitches and a few disappointments, it was a wonderful Christmas. I love my family and I am so grateful to have them. I hope everyone else had a very merry Christmas.