Merry Christmas

It was a very different Christmas this year, and I liked it.  I was up at 7:00, a decent hour, but not one that shows much enthusiasm.  I had time to read, bathe, get dressed, and get breakfast ready.  Then I had time to read the newspaper, put on Christmas music, and have a hot chocolate.  Terry joined me quite early.  Brent came in around 9:30, and we woke Ty up at 10:00.  We ate breakfast before we opened presents!  It didn't even bug me.  It was different, and relaxed.  The four of us had a great time.

 

Ty spent most of Christmas break rolling out his muscles.

Brent finishing breakfast before present opening.

Ty got up last and didn't have time to get dressed and do his hair.

Ty still rolling...Brent still sitting.

Terry finishing breakfast.  Notice unopened gifts and the computer going.

 Early in the afternoon, Terry and I ventured out to Meridian to see if Santa had visited the grandkids.  He had.

Amee with two little monkeys.


Early evening we ended up at Mom and Dad's with a lot of the rest of the family.  The ham that wasn't used Christmas Eve, was devoured, along with shrimp dip, pork and seeds, and lots of goodies.  It wasn't bunco, but we had a good visit.

 That evening a little snow storm left a skiff of white for Christmas.  It was a different Christmas this year, and I liked it.

Christmas Eve Day

So excited to pick Ty up from the airport at 9:00 AM.  He had to be at the Eugene airport 4:30 so he arrived in Boise looking rumpled, scruffy, tired, and good!  We took him straight to Blue Sky Bagels for breakfast.  Then we made the rounds dropping off gifts and shopping.  By 3:00 PM we had finished shopping, had taken care of some returns, seen grandparents, had shown Ty Stacey and Mike's new house, bought him new clothes and set him up with some big tubes to roll out his muscles on.  It was wonderful having him captive with us for 6 whole hours.  What fun!

Ty changed into some of his new clothes, and looked so good.  Then he was off to catch-up with friends.  You'd think families would want to be together on Christmas Eve, but he was out until about 2:00 in the morning with other families that love him.

This is the first Christmas Eve in many years that we didn't have the Cowley Bunco Christmas Party to attend.  We were really quite stunned by the cancelling of it due to everyone being sick.  Terry and I found ourselves alone in a quiet house on Christmas Eve.  We had thought about taking in a movie or going bowling.  We also considered going out for Chinese food.  In the end, we went to Hastings and rented White Christmas.  I love that movie and all the music.  It's long too.  We watched the movie with popcorn and hot chocolate.  Everything was wrapped and ready, so we retired to bed at about 10:00.  It turned out to be a happy Christmas Eve all day long.

Just What I Needed

Christmas is crazy.  All of December is crazy.  As much as I love all the music and lights and treats and giving and decorations, it's still crazy.  So yesterday when I still had a bunch of shopping, wrapping, and cleaning, and cooking to do, I called my friend and arranged to meet at Barnes and Noble for a treat and a little break.  It was late in the afternoon and I had only completed half of my errands, but it was soooo good to sit down with a good friend, a hot chocolate, and a scone.  I love being in a book store, and it's especially fun at Christmas time.  We sat near the gift wrap counter and watched everyone else bustle and hunt and shop and wait in line and spend their money.  We just relaxed, visited, laughed, and exchanged little gifts.  It's been my favorite holiday moment so far.  Thanks, Lydia, for spending a time-out with me.