Christmas...been there...done that...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. My least favorite week of the year has to be the one between Christmas and New Year's. There is so much to get done that week and it just leaves me starting the New Year behind. My vote is we extend it another week. Anyway, we had a great Christmas and New Year's. We went to my brother's house for dinner and presents Saturday night, church and the Courington's house (twice each) on Sunday and did our own Christmas here, followed by the Quinn's house and going to see Grandma, Christmas day.



On Tuesday L woke up and asked, "where are we going to open presents today?". She loved Christmas this year. It was hard for her to understand that not all of the presents were hers, but by the end of it she was having as much fun handing out the gifts as opening them. I think she finally learned that giving is just as fun and very important too. L's goodies this year included a Dora the Explorer Pirate Ship (playhouse for the backyard) from Santa, a vacuum and broom set, playdoh, some books and puzzles, clothes, princess dolls, a sleeping bag, cowgirl boots, a really cool keyboard and matching guitar that DO NOT have a power switch and lots of extra batteries (thanks M and LQ - can't wait until you have your first kid!) and a Leapster handheld game system (L calls it her DS, as in, Nintendo DS).

One of her most special gifts this year was a rocking horse. The rocking horse was hand made by my grandpa for my 6th birthday. My mom had it totally repaired and it even had a new paint job. I loved that horse and love the idea that L is now getting to enjoy it too. My grandpa was an amazing carpenter and it is so nice to have some of his handiwork to remember him with.

G and I got a bunch of gift cards, Tae Kwon Do practice pads, some movies and games. It was a wonderful Christmas this year. I don't think you fully understand Christmas until you see it through the eyes of a child and it is something I will not soon forget. New Year's eve we spent at B and E's house with all of our friends. It was a real good time.

On Tuesday, the 2nd, we took L to the optometrist at the medical center. They did a full exam and said that basically the "tumor" was a plugged oil duct that was plugged up at the base of the duct. Normally you see them closer to the lid, like a stye. The doctor is pretty sure it will go away on its own. If L were older, they would have cut it open and drained it right there, but she said it's not worth putting her under to have it drained. Thank God! She said if it's still there in a year that we would reevaluate, but she is pretty sure it's an isolated incident. We, as well as our bank account, are very relieved not to have her go through surgery again.

After we left the med center we went to Nederland to visit some friends of ours, A and J. J is a police officer and he let L go see his car.

Then G and J head to the police shooting range, where G was like a kid in a candy store (or more accurately, like G in a candy store).

We had a wonderful visit and made it home about 3:00 am on Wednesday morning. Now we are just trying to get the house back in shape and get L back on some type of a schedule. Hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season, as well. We are truly blessed!