Noah and I took Christmas Eve off. We had lunch with Hilary and Cheree before going to "obby obby" (Hobby Lobby) to pick up a few things. Then we picked Dave up after work to go to the 5:30 p.m. candlelight service at church. Such a lovely service, even if it's harder to pay attention than it used to be!
We opened gifts Christmas morning - Noah got a tent, a keyboard and some "cool" small things, like bath paints, a water bottle like Dad's and some other treats. The tent is much bigger than we thought and looks like a fish. The part that zips up is the mouth, and there are teeth hanging into the tent! He LOVES it!
We took off for Concordia later that morning. We beat Josh, Veronica and Alli by about four hours! They were supposed to get there late Christmas Eve but had to stop in Arkansas because of the weather. Brave people, making the trip in that weather. But we were all so glad to see them. Alli was perfect, only crying when Aunt Kelly picked her up for the first time! She didn't seem bothered about being passed from person to person, and she had big smiles for Grandma and Papa.
The rest of the McGinnis clan, minus Jeff and Braxton (poor guy was sick), came later, and Mickey and Regina were there, too. I think we had almost 25 people there! Lots of good food, great visits and tons of pictures.
We decided to come home that night - it's always nice to get into your own bed! Norita came yesterday morning, and she spent the night with us. Had a great lunch at Flat Branch and homemade enchiladas for dinner. Noah loved chasing Grandma around the house, and he even managed to get a nap in!
We were pretty low-key today. Mostly read, watched TV and played with Noah's toys. We're trying to go through them to pull out things he doesn't play with or books he doesn't care to read, but we're having a hard time with that. He seems to play with most of his stuff, but we can also take a lot of it to the farm. Hmm. There's an idea!
Now, on to the pictures . . .
Our Christmas tree
Noah holding Cousin Alli
Christmas was the first time all the grandkids were together
Watching Alli
Two-year-old Noah fits in the doll stroller
Chad, Kelly, Dave, me, Josh and Veronica
Regina, Mickey and Noah
Noah, me and Kelly (that's not dirt on his face - he walked into a doorknob at daycare last week, and the bruise is just now fading!)
Grandma Pat, Todd and Lori opening "big kid" gifts
Kelly and Chad opening gifts - Grandma Pat is notorious for wrapping gifts in food boxes. The first year Chad came for Christmas, he got a gift in a hot chocolate box. He didn't open the box because he was so excited to get hot chocolate! So he definitely got a hot chocolate box again this year!
Noah decided to take a picture of Uncle Josh and Aunt Veronica
And of Uncle Todd
In lieu of a nap, Noah opted to lay down at the top of the kitchen stairs when he thought he might be getting tired
So happy in his new tent
Dad and Noah on his new four-wheeler from Josh, Veronica and Alli (this is actually the second one they bought - the first was stolen when their garage was robbed! Apparently, they weren't looking for big-ticket items, as they left most of Josh's tools and Veronica's vehicle that was unlocked with the keys and her purse in it!)
I think we're all somewhat ready to have a somewhat normal week. Noah keeps talking about Nodney (Rodney), Jeje (Ginger), Seesee (Lacey) and Avery. Rodney, Ginger and Lacey are Carol's dogs, and Avery is a little girl at daycare! He says yes when we ask if Caroline is still his girlfriend, but he can only say Avery's name!
No comments:
Post a Comment