Tis the Season

Tachy Wacky Christmas Party, doesn't that sound like fun? That was how we started our Christmas celebration. On December 20th we had the Christmas party at our house. It was great to see so many good friends and celebrate the holiday all together. Amy, Lindsey and I made some goodies and we hung out in our Christmas gear. Randi got best dressed, he came as an elf, tights and all.
The following day Lindsey and I threw a baby shower for our good friend Amy. Luke and Amy are expecting their first baby boy at the end of May, and the shower was a hit. She received many of the necessary baby items for becoming a mommy.
On the 23rd a snow and ice storm came through Olathe. We had plans to go to Crown Center for the day with my grandparents but due to the weather that didn't happen. Instead we hung out at the house and my mom brought my nieces and spent the day with us. We made soup for lunch and made Christmas cookies. We played the Grinch that Stole Christmas for the kids to watch. It was a fun indoor family day. Mitch had the week off work so he was even home for the crazy ciaos.
Christmas Eve we went to church service at 5:00 and from there we went to my Grandparents house. Jack stack was there waiting for us for dinner. Once everyone was finished eating we started on gifts for the kids. That was a fun disaster, they enjoyed every minute of it. They all got baby dolls, which they loved. They all got matching Christmas p.j's from Nana of course. Nana always has some surprise for all the girls, talk about spoiled rotten. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve at the Blanton's. Once we came home and put Payton to bed, we made monkey bread to have Christmas morning and finished our chores we needed to have done before bed.
Santa had finally arrived. Payton woke up and came downstairs to find that Santa had left her a present. She got her first front door. It isn't really a house but a front door to a house. It has a door bell and a door that she can crawl through and push more buttons on the other side. Santa must have know that she loves to push buttons. It lights up, talks, sings the alphabet all kind of fun things for a little person almost 1. She has played with it non-stop so far.
We had breakfast with my grandparents and parents, which was nice to sit and visit. After we were done opening our presents we got ready and went over to Nana and Papa Jim's for their Christmas. Tyler, Erin and the girls arrived shortly after we did. The girls almost immediately started in on the gifts. We were on a time crunch since, the two youngest were approaching nap time. The Blanton girls got a kitchen set and tons of clothes. Payton got a walker and tons of clothes. Uncle Tyler gave her a pony that you ride on and push with your feet. They all got books that Nana made for them about themselves. They really like to see their own picture. Mom and Dad also got a Wii for Christmas so while kids napped the adults had a great time playing. Christmas night is a yearly tradition to go to Austins after the family visiting has ended and there will be many different classes of people who went to South visiting. Mitch and I went up for about an hour and a half and visited some old friends.
The day after Christmas we went to Mitch's parents house to have Christmas with them. We had a late breakfast together and Payton took her morning nap. Once she woke up we opened presents. Payton is learning to grocery shop early, she got a shopping cart. She got a couple of books and a movie from Uncle Sean. Once Payton was finished with her presents the adults opened their gifts. We had a great day and relaxed for a while. That evening once we came home my 3 best girlfriends from high school came over to have some girl time. We all played catch up on what has been going on with each other and did a small Christmas exchange. It was great for us all to get together. We don't see each other very often but when we do we have such a great time.
I love this time of year it goes by so fast but is always so much fun. Even with all the running around and feeling crazy it seems to always put a smile on my face. I feel blessed that we can all celebrate Jesus birthday together. I hope you all had just as good of a holiday celebration as my family did. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving

This year our Thanksgiving was pretty relaxing. Mitch was a little more relaxed than most people but that was because he was on pain pills. He had his 5th knee surgery the day before Thanksgiving. It was an out patient procedure and went very smoothly. He is recovering very well and we are praying that this will bring him a little less discomfort.

On Thanksgiving day we went to my Aunt and Uncles house in Belton with the rest of my Dad's side of the family. We enjoyed lots of good food and visiting. We watched a couple of movies and had a great time. We even made it home right around Payton's bed time. The day after Thanksgiving we avoided all of the crazy early morning shoppers. We just stayed home and made breakfast. We went to Phil and Karen's house around noon to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mitch's family. His brother came home that morning from Springfield and we ate wonderful smoked meat that Phil made. We watched a couple movies and just relaxed some more. We had a great time, Payton was our main entrainment.

This year was much better than some because we didn't have to cram both of our family celebrations into one day. We got to enjoy time with them separately and on no time schedule. In the blink of an eye it will be time to celebrate Christmas.