Thank you and details

Let me begin this blog with several thank yous!

Mom & Dad – thank you so much for coming all the way to Texas to spend Christmas with us. It was wonderful for the kid’s to have grandparents here and Jason & I appreciated your company & all of your help! We love you and appreciate having you as such a significant part of our children’s lives.

John & Bonnie (the best in-laws in the whole, wide world… I really mean that!) – Thank you for sending Christmas to us. As you know we missed you but we are so thankful that you blessed our kids so generously this year… we look forward to next year with you again. Oh yea – John did you get that bathroom door fixed this year for Dasher? Or did he get stuck again?

Erin, Alex & Joseph – Thank you for all that you did to make this Christmas so memorable. You know what you did – you are wonderful! We missed you more than you know and we will strive to not let a Christmas go by without your presence again!

Andy – Hey we miss you – that’s all there is to that!! Your kid picture was truly sad and somewhat pathetic! But I agree with Erin – you looked good with Gokie Wank & Fudgie Opie.

We are so wonderfully blessed with family. Thank you all!

Now let me give you the play by play:

Sunday we went to Christmas Eve Eve service. I especially liked the traditions that were similar to Hope. After that we went to my friend Nicole’s house and had a Christmas party and played Canasta (FYI – Jason & Nicole beat the tar out of Jake & me). This was a very fun evening, A came home and went to bed with Nana & Papa Coach “watching” her while the other kids stayed and played with Nicole’s children. Sadly – Jason got sick in the middle of the night…

Monday we spent the day preparing for the evening festivities, making cookies, cheese balls and other fun stuff. We began the gift exchange after a light dinner. Z & A’s first gifts were the new “thinking” chairs from Aunt Erin, Uncle Alex & Cousin Joseph. They were a HUGE hit – especially with Z. It was a very fun evening! We ended it with me reading “Texas Night Before Christmas” and we put the kids to bed.

Christmas Day was great!! We set up the video camera so that G’ma Bonnie could get a glimpse of the festivities. Jason & I woke up the kids at 6am – we were afraid that B would let Z out and we’d miss the video so we got them up and sent them out one by one to check their stockings. As you can see in the video clip the kids had a fun time opening up their stockings. I spent the rest of the afternoon making Jason his “traditional” Christmas dinner – thanks Bonnie for running around looking for recipes. I think I did a fair job of imitating your terrific cooking!

Finally today Jason and I had a date with the doctor. Nothing is wrong – we just wanted to get established with a doctor and this afternoon we are going to go out on a real date since Mom & Dad are here to watch the kids.

Again thanks to you all! I hope your Christmas was as merry and blessed as ours! Love you all!