Christmas 2009

    We traveled around a bit for Christmas, but had a lovely time. We got to Sarah's in time for supper Christmas Eve, which was Betty's (Sarah's mother-in-law) Lobster bisque. It's made from fresh lobsters (they live in Maine) and is to die for. Unfortunately, she wasn't well and spent the evening in bed. They left early the next day. It was such a shame, she loves Christmas with the kids. After they left it was just us and Sarah's family. We had a really nice relaxed time together. Sarah made a fabulous standing rib roast for dinner.
    We bought a tool box for Alex and filled it with all kinds of stuff like balsa wood, wooden wheels, feathers, colored glass, just all kinds of things. He loves to make things, and he is so creative. We also put in the tools he might need—wire cutter, a small hand drill (that works in balsa wood) and a special saw. He was so excited about having his own saw. At one point he said to someone, "I have my own saw...I'm not kidding!"
    We gave Addy a small secretary (just her size) that we bought when we were first married. It's been stored away for years. Sarah had suggested buying her something that was more grown-up rather than the usual dolly stuff. She seems to really love things that are like adults have. So we supplied the secretary with a tablet of writing paper, a ruler, colored pencils, a stapler, etc. She was thrilled. She kept going over to it and writing in her tablet—she can write her name and Alex's. I helped her write "Mom" and "Dad" too. For instance, she would be playing at her kitchen set, and all of a sudden decide she needed a recipe. So she'd go over to her desk and write a recipe. We were so happy that it was a hit.
   While we were there, I made pecan sticky buns. I haven't made them since I was in business about 7 years ago! My yeast (which I have many bags of in the freezer) is way past its sell date, but it's still alive! So on Christmas I made the dough (the kids were quite impressed with the rising process), and the day after Christmas, I baked the sticky buns.
    After breakfast we all left for Matt's in Massachusetts. We had a great time with them. Ozzy is walking now (the beginning stage, between people) and is so cute. River and Addy were inseparable as usual. They are so cute together. River loves books, so while they were playing, at one point I heard her say to Addy, "let's read a book", and Addy said, "no." Addy does love books, but more at bedtime. We had a much more active time there with four kids and a much smaller house. We opened gifts which were mostly for the kids—I say mostly because Matt and Crystal gave us a couple things. One gift just rendered me speechless--they gave us $100 to give to our church! It was Crystal's idea. She wanted to give it to us because we love our church so much. Wasn't that sweet? The other gift was a computer chip with 300 pictures of their kids on it. We have it scrolling in the digital picture frame Sarah gave us last year. Our favorite pictures are of Ozzy in a hat and River with blue, blue eyes.
    I found a new addiction—jigsaw puzzles. I've never particularly liked them before, but Sarah suggested I bring something that maybe the family could do at their house, so I found a wolf puzzle in the toy shop. It's a "family" puzzle; it has pieces that are large, medium and small. As it turned out, Dan and I worked on it, and for quite a while Addy joined in (with some help from us). She really did well and was so excited whenever she fit a piece. She'd squeal and say "I did it; I was right!" and roll back on the couch and kick her feet. We were impressed at how well she did. Even though she enjoyed it, Sarah was quite sure it wouldn't be finished after we left, so we brought it home (which explains the one piece missing!).