Due to the entire family getting sick in addition to all the holiday revelry, I have fallen woefully behind on my blog updates. I was planning on doing a separate entry for each of the holiday events we attended, but as it is already January 3rd, I am going to condense them all into one fairly lengthy entry and just feel glad that I got Christmas blogged at all. It was definitely a fun-filled holiday season with lots of traveling and lots of family visiting. Sadly, I didn't get many pictures of the boys with all their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, but they certainly enjoyed playing with everyone and getting the extra attention.
This year, Colin helped me with some of my Christmas baking. He "helped" me with all the different cookies I made, but he actually saved me some time when he helped decorate the sugar cookies. It just so happened to also be his favorite task.
Next came Christmas at Nana and Papa's. Colin loved playing with all his cousins and seemed to particularly enjoy pilfering everyone else's toys. Eli was doted on by the girls and I just thought it was so adorable when they all gathered around to help him open his gifts. (Unfortunately, the picture I have of this keeps rotating when I try to insert it and I have now given up trying to fix it. Everyone will just have to take my word for it when I say it was *very* cute.)
Next we celebrated at Grammy and Poppy's. Once again, Colin thouroughly enjoyed playing with his cousins and Eli enjoyed all the extra attention. It was nice to have all the siblings together again and I know my parents had a great time hosting this year.
On Christmas Eve, the whole family drove around to look at Christmas lights and the boys got to open their Christmas jammies. Colin was very excited about his. Eli, I think, just wanted to go to bed. Colin then wrote a letter to Santa and left cookies, milk, and carrot sticks (he wanted to make sure Rudolph had a snack too).
The next morning, we celebrated Christmas at home. Colin woke up first, as per usual, but did a great job staying patient and waiting for Eli to wake up before we all headed downstairs. One of the first things Colin checked was the plate of cookies to see if Santa had eaten them. He was thrilled when he found out the big man had left one for him to enjoy that morning.
After opening gifts, we all got dressed and headed to Erie, PA to celebrate Christmas with Chris' extended family. We celebrated with the Donor-side of the family on Christmas day and celebrated with the Ring-side of the family the following day. In our rush to leave on time, I completely forgot to take pictures of the boys together in their new Christmas jammies, so I attempted a photo shoot that night in the hotel.
After we came home, we got to spend a little extra time with my sisters. First Kasey swung back into town to visit for an extra day before heading back to North Carolina. Then Angie stayed with us for New Year's before heading back to California. It was nice to be able to spend a couple extra days with them since we only get to see them a couple times each year.
In addition, to talking about Christmas, I'd like to briefly reflect on the past year. It was definitely filled with a roller-coaster of emotions and provided us with some unforeseen challenges, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. I learned a lot about myself and feel that my relationships with my husband and children have grown stronger. I also learned that I have a wonderful network of family and friends that are more than willing to help when the going gets tough. However, I am hoping that 2010 proves to be a less eventful year in which we all get a little more sleep. :)
Happy New Year!
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