Thanksgiving was a slow day. We slept in, and I didn't even get the turkey in the oven until after 12:00. Jeanette helped make dinner. She helped make the stuffing and bread and kept me on my toes. She was so cute running around the kitchen. Blake spent the day running around driving everyone crazy. He wants to help, but mostly just gets in the way. Bill spent the day on Skype, and spending time with the family. It's not often he gets a four day weekend.
Christmas was beautiful. This was the first year that Jeanette had been able to look forward to Christmas. She remembered last year, and had been asking for Christmas for months. She also wrote to Santa for the first time. Then she went overboard and wrote to the North Polar Bear and Ilbereth the Elf too. (Bill read them the Father Christmas Letters, by JRR Tolkien.) She was soooooo happy when Santa wrote back. Blake caught Jeanette's enthusiasm and it made for a fun few weeks. We took the children Christmas shopping, and even let Jeanette 'pay' for the presents she wanted to buy. (We handed her the money and she handed it to the cashier. Then the cashier handed her the change and she pocketed it...) Even Olea got in on the fun, trying to climb the Christmas tree. It also didn't take Olea long to learn that those red and white hooks were candy! Every time I turned around, it seemed, she had another one and was sticking it in her mouth, wrappings and all!
Christmas morning was sweet. We had church as 9:00, so we had to get up and dressed, but still wanted to enjoy the fun of Christmas morning. So stockings were opened before church, but the presents were saved for after. The children all slept in, we even had to wake Jeanette up. They haven't learned to wake themselves for such events yet. Church was very good, and brought home the Spirit of Christmas. Then we came home and opened presents and made dinner. We didn't have the traditional ham for Christmas dinner, instead I made Tri-Tip. It was delicious, and we decided to repeat it for New Years Eve.
New Years Eve was also spent at home. As we don't have TV, Cable, or Satellite, we watched the "Ball" drop online. We watched it drop "Live in Time Square." So by 9:30 P.M. we were ready to put the children to bed and have a nice evening with just the two of us, YEAH RIGHT! Jeanette didn't go to bed till 12:30! Blake dropped off at, literally, 11:55! He just fell asleep in the chair, one second as excited as could be, then asleep. Even Olea stayed up till 11:00. I guess children can just FEEL it in the air when things are happening.
We toasted in the New Year with Sparkling Cider, and a kiss. Then we got a wonderful phone call from our sister Kathryn to let us know she is expecting! I was so happy for them, it took me a while to get to sleep, even though it was late and I was tired.
I'm looking forward to this year. It has promise, and I am grateful to be so blessed as to have a new year to try again.
