A Week of Celebrations, Part 1

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas filled with friends and family and cherished memories. We spent Christmas with my parents, arriving late Tuesday night and staying a whole week. It was one of the longest trips the kids have had at my parents house in years and they enjoyed every minute of it. All of my siblings were home for Christmas and our kids had such a good time playing with the cousins, aunts and uncles.

Christmas Eve was spent shopping and wrapping and crafting and sewing (new nightgowns for all the granddaughters) until the wee wee hours of the morning. In true W* style, we are once again very grateful to Walgreen's for being open on Christmas Eve and in the early hours of Christmas Day. Every year we seem to manage to make it worth their while to stay open. This year it was for a plunger [one of my Dad's home teaching families called to report that their only toilet was clogged and they couldn't find a plunger. Thankfully the clog resolved itself minutes before my dad and GR got to their doorstep, and they now have a plunger.] and 44 AA and 8 9V batteries. Santa's Reindeer are also quite grateful to Quick Trip and their freshly delivered donuts (at 2:30 AM) - even on Christmas Morning.

Here are the kids with Aunt Barb, wearing their new PJs, courtesy of Grandma Mutti:


Christmas Day was spent leisurely opening presents all day long, eating lots and lots of chocolate and yummy handmade goodies (thanks to Joe and Katy!) and helping the kids play with their two favorite toys ... the Wii and 6 remote control cars (one for each of the grandchildren).

The minute we put the close on Christmas Day our families total focus shifts to celebrating my Dad's birthday which is a few days later ...