We've been on the go during our Christmas break and now here we are heading into a new year tomorrow! We had a wonderful time in Ohio with all our family and friends. Starting our week in Ohio, we found out that Stephen is allergic to cats! Walt and Ruthie have a new little kitten that was just too cute to leave alone and Stephen woke up the next morning with red and swollen eyes! For the rest of our visit, our wise little son kept his distance.
We really enjoyed our visit with my friend from, what is it, Katie? About 35 years?! (Ouch. That is hard to admit!) Katie has three of the cutest little boys in Ohio, and all of our kids had a blast together! It was great to send them off to play while Katie and I caught up in person, for a change, instead of communicating only over e-mail or Facebook or blog comments. What a blessing it was to be with her. I wish we lived closer.
We moved on to the Schley side of the family after a visit with Richard and Margie. We had our annual Schley family Christmas Dinner Contest. This year we did chili. We had nine entries and only three winners. That was hard to judge, but we loved the chili and we loved the fun and visiting!
Spending the rest of the week with my family was a blessing. Sometimes I just need that Schley fix and then I'm back on track again. It was nice to just sit and laugh with Liz and Laurel and Taylor about wee boxers, or was it Wii boxes, or was it Diet Dr. Pepper? I had fun shopping with Liz and Dianne and getting and giving those suggestions and comments that only sisters can give to each other. I enjoyed watching Mom and Dad interact with the kids and the kids sure enjoyed being at Grandpa's house where there are trucks. (I'm not sure where those trucks are, but Christopher always talks about Grandpa's house and trucks in the same sentences.)
Yes, Christmas this year was wonderful. It was not about gifts and glitter. It was not about commercialism or perfection. Sometimes it was about food. It had to be because we had Bocka's Buckey Bars, salmon (Timothy's favorite), the all-important Chex Party Mix, the handcrafted gingerbread houses and everything else that was available. I have to say that this was a wonderful Christmas because we were together because we were family, and we were celebrating the birth of Jesus. This is what made Christmas beautiful this year.
Now we're at the brink of a new year. We're going to brave the snow tonight and go to a family New Year's Eve party for a white elephant gift exchange. The boys are all excited to stay up late. I'm not as thrilled with that, I'm getting older, but I catch their excitement and then I'm ok about it again. What are you guys doing tonight to celebrate New Year's? How have the celebrations changed for you over the years? Who's going to bed early tonight?! (Lucky you!)
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We'll do our annual New Year's eve at Eddie and Dolores' house. Not too many of us because the flu and bronchitis is taking it's toll. Thank the Good Lord, we are well, as is the rest of our local family. Have a blessed New Year.
Jordan and I are doing Movie marathons- eating sauerkraut and pork on top of mashed potatoes- and playing gin until I win a majority of the games! We always stay up until around 12:30 anyway!
We spent the evening with friends with boys! There were 10 boys and 2 lonely girls and lots of food. It's so fun to be together on New Year's Eve. I love your new picture!
Our New Years Eve happenings have changed from the ones we used to do 20 or 30 years ago! What could beat Aunt Mary and Aunt Irene's house and playing games till 4AM when the Wolcotts had to leave so they could get home to do the AM milking at the farm?? Yes, those were the days when WE (parents) sometimes wished we could just stay home, but you kids would never want to miss it. ( and we would have really felt like we missed it if we didn't all go) It was fun and lots of memories, but this year we just dozed until the ball dropped at Times Square, then we went to bed. It was quiet around here.
Oh, yea, we did go to Village Inn with our neighbor for their annual free sauerkraut on New Year's Eve. Memories of Grandpa and Grandma went with us there, too, since they seldom missed it.
We were so glad you could spend Christmas time in Ohio!
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