Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas recap

Well, it's been a long week and a half around here!  After five Christmas's we are finally getting back into our routine and the kids are coming down from a six day sugar high.

The weekend before Christmas we gave Santa a call and asked him to do us a solid.  Since we were going to be on the road on actual Christmas and he has a tendancy to bring the kids large gifts, we thought it best that he visit us at home.

We put out cookies and hot cocoa and the girls put on their Christmas jammies and went to bed.



And when we woke up, Santa had been there.  Addi even found reindeer footprints in the yard!  Well, it was either a reindeer or a heavy-footed rabbit... either way, Addi was thrilled.



And as excited as Addi was to rip into her gifts, I think Sam finally figured out the joys of the holidays.



On Wednesday morning we headed to Evansville and spent the night of the 23rd with the extended Ralph clan, including cousins, aunts and uncles.  With so many kids running around it was pure chaos but every minute was great.  I even got some pictures of the kiddos playing but left my camera in Indiana, so you'll just have to believe me that with 18 people staying in one house, things get a little wild.

Christmas Eve Adam and Molly, Adam and Robin, and Jay and I kept up the Haubstadt tradition of heading to the bars before dinner.  At the Nisbet we ran into some friends and had some of the coldest beer on earth, then Jay and Adam headed to the Carriage and the rest of us went back to Jill and Jay's house for more family fun.



Christmas Eve was as wonderful as always.  Lots of great food and quality time with the family, plus Santa rode in on his Camry sleigh and brought gifts for the kids.  Then we exchanged family gifts and played and ate some more!

Christmas Day we bid a fond farewell to the Ralphs and headed north to Indianapolis.  There, we shared Christmas dinner with my mom and Uncle Phil and Uncle Mike.  We had MORE food and more presents and played some more.

We relaxed and let the kids burn off some energy at Chuck E. Cheese, then prepared for our fifth and final Christmas celebration on Sunday morning - brunch with the Goddards.  We started that tradition way back when I was six and we lived next door to the Goddards.  Twenty four years later we still get together, eat eggs-eroneous and share some laughs.

After lunch we packed up the family truckster and made a slippery drive home.  Thanks to our amazing neighbor we pulled into a freshly-shoveled driveway and have been unpacking and organizing ever since!

Today we dropped of a hefty donation of toys and clothes to the Salvation Army and began preparation for our next adventure - New Years with our college friends.  They arrive tomorrow!

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