Christmas Vacation Top 10 List

I'm finally back to blogging after a long break. It feels good to have a new beginning of sorts. The holidays are behind and we wonder what the new year will hold.

Our Christmas break has officially come to an end now. The kids are back in school. Kaitlyn went back to Missouri for college today as well.

I thought it would be fun to blog about our Christmas vacation as a Top 10 List. Here's some of what we did on our vacation.

Christmas Vacation Top 10

1. We celebrated with 4 of our children here at home on the 21st. We opened gifts, and enjoyed stromboli, soup, and Lauryn's peanut butter fudge.

2. We had wonderful driving conditions for our annual Christmas trip to Texas. That was such a gift! Last year was a little treacherous, due to snow.

3. We enjoyed Christmas day with our family at my parents' house. We had a fun time, and what a full house it was! Twenty-six of us were there for gift opening, meals, and games. Lauryn and Aaron arrived that night and then we were complete. 28!

4. We visited with Alan's family on Friday and Saturday. We had a nice gathering at his sister's house and it was good to see everyone.

5. Food! Seriously, we did eat a lot of good food and I so appreciate everyone's hospitality. I should also mention cookies and various other desserts. Dear me! I was actually ready for a break from sweets. Why are they so tempting?

6. Warm weather! We had some windy days, but all in all it was much warmer than what we have here at home. Some days were in the 60s and 70s. Wow!

7. My parents have been married for 50 years! We celebrated their 5oth anniversary on Sunday the 28th. What a wonderful party it was. How awesome it was to have the 28 of us under one roof for this wonderful milestone. I know that all of us realized what a blessing it was that we were all together to celebrate Mom and Dad. Our parents were really touched by it and that was the best thing about the whole day.

8. My siblings make the list, because they did such an awesome job making this wonderful celebration come together. Great planning, great food, great DVD, etc, etc. Thanks guys!

9. One afternoon, my parents and I took Jadyn to see the horses who live down the road. That was fun and Jadyn loved it.

10. Shopping for Kaitlyn's wedding dress with both Kaitlyn and Lauryn on January 2nd. It was both fun and memorable. She picked out a beautiful dress and will be a lovely bride in July.

Things that did not make the Top 10 list:

~Sharing viruses with other family members. Not fun. Alan said we should call our Christmas trip the "Annual Virus Exchange." :)

~Our son-in-law's car is now in the shop to have it's fender and bumper repaired, again. Two accidents, and neither were his fault. I think Aaron may be wondering if there's a target on his car.

~Jadyn's doll from Grandma and Grandpa will soon be on it's way back to the store. She no longer coos, cries or talks. :) Her face is stuck in a permanent scowl. Not good.

Our family

50 years!