Christmas

Hey everyone! So I've decided to finally get around to writing about Christmas. On Christmas Eve we travelled down to Magrath to my in-law's place. We stopped in Calgary for lunch with my brother and future sister-in-law. It was great to be able to see them at least for a little bit. While we were eating lunch we found out that our step-sister was on her way to Edmonton in an ambulance. She has had back problems for years and it finally got so severe that they couldn't wait any longer to do something about it (she ended up having surgery on Christmas day, came home on Boxing Day and is recovering well).

That night we had supper at my sister-in-law's house. The kids had hot dogs and the adults had mushroom melt burgers, which were REALLY yummy. Then the boys went back to Mom and Dad's and opened their Christmas PJs, which were blue with penguins and say "Cool Like Dad". I thought they were really cute and they were a really reasonable price from Old Navy. Caleb left out some caramel popcorn for Santa and went to bed.

The kids woke up at their normal time on Christmas morning, maybe a bit early. We read the story of the Savior's birth to them before we took them upstairs. They got to open their presents from us and each other as well as their stockings from Grandma Jo. John and I also opened our gifts from each other and our stockings from my mum. Caleb got Hungry Hungry Hippos, Operation and some Last Airbender action figures, as well as all of his stocking stuff. Ty got a talking plush Caillou doll and 4 wooden puzzles as well as his stocking stuff. John gave me a book that I've really been wanting (see 2 posts ago) and I gave him a Magic: The Gathering fat pack. It was nice to not have a crazy amount of presents all at once. Then John's dad made us a great breakfast with bacon, sausage, eggs and pancakes. It was awesome.

That afternoon we had our big family dinner with John's parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and us. It got pretty loud, but I had a headache to begin with from my cold, so it probably seemed worse than it actually was. The turkey was great as far as turkey goes. I'm not a big turkey fan, but this one was quite decent. My favourite part was the stuffing, of course. Then we opened our exchange presents. Caleb got a big bucket of Play-Doh and toys, a Cars 2 t-shirt, a book, some crazy bracelets, a yo-yo, some cars and other stuff that I can't remember off of the top of my head. Ty got a bowl for snacks that's almost impossible to spill stuff out of, a Cars shirt, some bracelets, some Thomas trains and some other stuff as well. John and I got a collage of pictures of the kids that's already hanging in the living room and a coupon for a night out at Cineplex. I also got some Bath & Body Works soap, a plaque with a quote that I love on it "Life is to be enjoyed not just endured", a ceramic turtle dish and a few other goodies. John got a book, an iTunes gift card, a tie and other goodies.

We stayed in Magrath until Thursday morning and then headed home. We were supposed to be there longer, but Caleb had gotten sick while we were there (eww!), Ty wasn't napping (I kid you not, he didn't have a single nap there) and I was just ready to get back to a bit more normal of a routine. I'm very much a creature of habit. It was really nice to be able to get down there and spend some time with the family, though. John and the boys are planning on visiting again in February, but I'll be 34 weeks and will be in no shape to make the trip, so my mum is coming here and spending that weekend with me. We're going to get some freezer meals made for when Brett comes.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now, so I'll write again on Monday:) HAPPY NEW YEAR!