Obviously I've had to work these last few days following Christmas so I haven't had a chance to recap our holidays until now. I've also had major congestion which has left me only wanting to curl up with movies and read magazines the last week.
Christmas was very nice this year and felt a bit neverending because we had 4 Christmases in which the girls opened gifts. On the evening of the 23, Josh's stepmom, brother, and sister (& her boyfriend) came over. We had Popeye's chicken, opened gifts and chatted the evening away. I haven't gotten to hang out with them much and in this kind of setting at all so it was really nice to get to know them more. Tori and Penny cleaned up as usual. Highlights were homemade blankets by Grammy Tami and a karaoke machine. Josh and I got a DVD player for our bedroom which has come in handy with me feeling down the last few days. We've watched Julie & Julia, Paper Heart and Paranormal Activity on it so far. We also rented Sunshine Cleaning. All of the movies good but I especially liked Sunshine Cleaning & Paper Heart.
On Christmas Eve, Wichita got hit with a snow storm, which made for an especially festive day. We headed over to Mary & Tony's (Tori & Penny's aunt and uncle) and opened gifts with them. The girls loved their Zhu Zhu pets and Playschool doll house. Josh and I got a bag of goodies which were super yummy. Next we headed over to my mom and dad's house. I had to take a separate load of gifts earlier that morning because we couldn't fit everything in the car! My sister and her fiancee, Jason, (and the two dogs) drove in through the snow storm from New Mexico so I was anxious to see them. We spent the afternoon doing some baking, watching tv, chatting, etc. Soon it was time to talk about dinner. We had made plans to go to Sal's for dinner but the weather was so bad we didn't want to get out. So Janet and Jason made homemade spaghetti for all of us. It was pretty good and the girls ate a ton of it. We also opened gifts with my family which was really just watching the girls open all their gifts. They really did score pretty big with a Splatster, Hannah Montana makeup head, Berry Cafe, Play Doh desk, pajamas, books, Ugly Dolls, etc. Josh got lots of games for this Wii and Xbox. I got a purse that I wanted pretty bad, pajamas, goodies from Harry & David, the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, crafty stuff, and lots of other stuff. Josh, the girls and I then headed home so Santa would know where we were when he came to deliver gifts. Josh and I stayed up late putting together a Vanity for the girls and getting all the stockings put together.
Christmas Day morning the girls were up earlier than usual and Josh, of course, was waiting for all of us to wake up. When we did, they ran downstairs to find their loot. The Vanity went over big. They immediately started doing their hair and each other's hair. Next came stockings and they ripped those apart pretty quickly. Lastly they opened their wrapped gifts which included Nintendo DS & Cyberpocket, games for the systems, movies, Baby Alive's and watches. They were very excited and got everything they wanted (I think!) We did go overboard this year but I reminded Josh that they lost a lot of their stuff do to the burglary back in September and it's not every year that we can deliver such a good Christmas to them. (And I have a really hard time stopping the Christmas shopping for them...sigh). We had to drop the girls off with their mom at 12 and afterwards we headed back to my parent's house for the extended family Christmas. It was a smaller crowd this year and the food was proof. To be honest, I can't wait till I have a house and can host Christmas myself. After dinner and presents we played Pictionary Man and a game called Psychologist. Both were fun and full of laughs. Next my cousins all came over to hangout, play Rockband and Super Mario Brother's for the Wii. We all had a nice time but I wish I would have felt better.
On Sunday my family suprised me with a graduation celebration at Red Lobster. I really wasn't expecting anything for graduation, since I wasn't walking, but it was nice. I had this drink that was like a strawberry dipped pina colada, sooooo good. I love it. I also love that it seems that most major events in my life are celebrated at Red Lobster, lol. I did get some cash and a gift card to Beau Monde for some pampering, which I really can't wait to do.
So that's it, the Christmas tree is still standing, the house has been a wreck for a month, and I don't know the last time I've cooked a meal at home (or Josh) but that's what the holidays are all about, right?
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