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christmas recap part 5...final.

after the wedding we made it to my parents.
their street was plowed only 20 minutes before we got there.

my sister and her family came in the morning.
our kids were anxious for present time.
really anxious!
 
  
maya wanted gator golf so bad.  she was so excited when she opened it.  
sean got night vision goggles....sweeeeet.  (hand-me-down shirt...by the way)
 
 
  
talby got the fancy nancy doll but was worried the big kids were going to tease her...she loves it.
annie opened the backpack and shouted "A BACKPACK!!! for when i go to KINDERGARTEN! YAAAAYYYY!"
(is she trying to break my heart?!)
 
 

new toy for lorel.
 
new toy for craig.

my sister got me that cute hat so i put it on right away.  
talby was showing me her new doll clothes.
i woke up that morning with something in my eye so i have no make-up on...
(i am just sure you were wondering!!)

i told you last year that my dad usually gives me & my sister a b&w photo
from when we were kids that he took.
so i could feel this was that gift through the wrapping paper.
i opened it and it was something i wrote when i was little.
this was total surprise.

as i read the first line i assumed it was going to be all things i didn't do so it would be funny.

then i read the last line and i BURST into tears.



so now i look even crazier.
oh well.
it was really special.  
thanks mom and dad.  
see....i AM an accomplished woman! (i'm trying to convince myself still on a daily basis)
i am doing what i always dreamed of. 
i think i was 2nd or 3rd grade when i wrote that....that is how old talby and sean are now. 
such a special gift.

  
 
craig helped maya open gator golf right away.
macy didn't make it into any of my shots...or scott?
he got a reggie bush jersey and was THRILLED.
 


my sister made my mom that R covered in colored pencils.  
i think my mom is pretending to be sharpening all those pencils.  
i told my sister that i started making one of those for her once but i quit
before i finished because it took so long sharpening!

i love that R.

after gifts we had a yummy lunch of ham, turkey and potatoes...mmmmm.
then we sent the kids out to play in the snow.



 



it ended in screaming tears from sean and tons of wet clothing.
that's the annoying part about snow.


some UNO and Old Maid before we all packed up to go home.
 

we made it home around 10 PM and our christmas celebrations were over for 2009.
it was a good one.

happy new year.           

christmas recap part 4

we planned on leaving the day after christmas to go to my parents...
but they were still snowed in at their house.

we spent the day together as a family.
watching movies...playing with new toys...just all there together.
i ran to the store for a couple things and found a few christmas things half off.
it was a really nice day.

then all of a sudden it was time to go.
we were on our way to the wedding of craig's cousin brett to kim 2 hours away.
 


it was a beautiful building.
everybody in the family was there...almost.
it was a great party.



all the way from california....
 




 
 
 
it was really fun.

best wishes to brett and kim.

christmas recap part 3

now that the family was home from their ski trip....the family gatherings had to begin!

craig's mom's: 

the traditional fondue that happens every year.
 


my niece morgan reading the christmas story in the bible.



sean got a remote control helicopter and it was the hit of all the toys.
and then it got stuck in talby's hair.


the duerksen grandkids...all grown up.
seriously.

craig's dad's:

there was smoked brisket and creamed corn.
sean shouted "WHERE did you get this corn?!"  
he loved it so much he had to find out where it was made.
i told him and he didn't believe me that it didn't grow that way.
it was good.


daphne got to come out of her kennel at the end for annie to love on her.

daddies make the best jungle gyms.

the winter storms started in as we drove home from here.
and it continued all night.
craig's sister and her family ended up staying with us that night.
craig picked up his cousin at airport.
the rest of his family driving from california was stuck in traffic from the weather.
it took them hours longer than usual.

we went to church.
my kids were NOT well behaved.
oh well....this will pass.
 
 

 
   
this arrived in our mailbox on christmas eve:
 

a german magazine called Kid's Life used my pictures for their article on decorating with kids at home.
i didn't know they were going to use the picture of my neighbor baby London.  
what a nice christmas present!  
there were two other full page pictures also.  SO COOL!
and aunt peg was visiting...she speaks german...so she translated!  awesome.
thanks Kid's Life!

our kids opened their christmas jammies and a super soft blanket...just for them.
everyone loves new pj's.

 

christmas morning:



nice jammies....

sean got a stereo and some classic rock CD's - van halen & pearl jam. 
the stereo has a remote....score!
scott opened his gift and said "a football....thanks!"  trying to sound as excited as possible.
i said "you're welcome...there is something else in that box"
he found the iPod box and asked "this isn't really what it is...is it?!"
he was shocked.
that was fun to see.
and he gave me a big big hug.... i loved that.  

 

 
 
 
   
after we opened gifts and ate our christmas breakfast and had another cup of coffee,
we started to get ready to go to my parents.
we were packing our bags when they called and said they were snowed in.

change of plans.
not going to my parents.
we had snow and wind but they had LOTS of snow and wind and ICE.
 
we relaxed a bit and then headed back to craig's moms for lunch instead.
ALL the family had arrived now.

it was a FULL house.
 

then we decided to have the christmas dinner that we would have missed...at our house.
so we drove back home and i cleaned up for an hour.
craig shoveled snow.
then everyone in craig's family came here.  it was great!
nice to have everyone being flexible with plans changing.
 

they brought all the food.

i provided the cosmopolitans.
and cookies.

baby stella was our entertainment all weekend.


then we played several rounds of The Name Game.
do you play that game at your house?
Snot Dork-sen was the most original name...along side Mr. Noogie Nugget.
silly boys.

when i went to put the kids to bed everyone cleaned up my kitchen!
truly the best way to throw a party...they bring all the food AND they clean it all up! 
ha!