Merry, merry Christmas wrap-up

Oh my goodness, we are so blessed. We have had such a wonderful Christmas.

Since I last posted, we have had lots of quality family time with both the Pressleys/Bainbridges and the McCarthys. On Monday night, we went to a restaurant with GranNan and Poppy, Beth, David, Will and Abby and then went back to GranNan and Poppy's house for presents and dessert. We all had such a good time. The kids got lots of great gifts that they were excited about, and of course, they got to spend time with their cousins, which they always love.

On Tuesday, the kids and I went to visit my sweet Granny at her apartment. We took some petit fours that the kids helped me make and visited for about an hour. The kids were quite literally bouncing off the walls and I was worried that we were way too much for Granny. But she seemed to thoroughly enjoy our visit. When we left, she said we had made her Christmas by coming to visit - and that made my day. (She later reported to my mother that the kids were sweet and cute and "peppy" on our visit. That is one way to describe it....)

Late Tuesday night, Kerry and Kate arrived from New York. We always enjoy their visits so much. They spoil the kids - but in the good way. They never say no when the kids ask them to read a story, climb in a tent, play a game, etc. They just love our kids and that makes my heart happy. The next afternoon, Gran and Grandaddy and Lilly (the beagle) arrived and the kids' joy was made complete. We did lots of cooking, playing, reading, etc. Kerry and Kate and Grandaddy took the kids and Lilly to the park. Check out what happened to Lil' P when she stopped moving for a second.... Yep. She fell asleep in the swing. Multiple times apparently. Poor baby. So much excitement...so little rest.

We turned out some really excellent meals while the McCarthy clan was here and enjoyed sitting around the table and just being together.

Don't worry. Pressley is not actually drinking champagne. That is "special kid champagne" in her glass - otherwise known as ginger ale.

Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve. The kids went to bed a lot later than usual. We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the Christmas story out of their kids Bible story book. Then waited for them to go to sleep. And waited. And waited. Corin and I finally got to attend a Christmas eve service at Briarlake for the first time in many, many years. When we got back from church, Santa had not yet arrived, so it was a late bedtime for us.

But as usual, it was well worth it. Santa was good to the kids. Despite the fact that Santa's elf who used to make Batman legos is not making them anymore, Evan got some gifts - including other legos - that he really seemed to enjoy. Pressley got the Princess Vanity that she so desperately wanted (though we have since discovered that Santa probably could have just brought the vanity stool and she would have been perfectly happy).

Finally, after a fun day of playing with all the new toys, we headed off to South Carolina to spend Christmas evening with my mom's side of the family - 26 strong this year. What a fun bit of controlled chaos that always is. Pressley and Sydney, who don't see each other nearly enough, became fast friends and bonded over a little Leapster fun. "Baby" Michael was trying hard to keep up with the big kids this year and he was just as cute as he could be.

All in all, it was just a perfect Christmas. In all the excitement and fun of the season, we tried very hard to keep the focus on the one true Gift we celebrate this season.

We hope that you and yours had as blessed a Christmas as we did. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (well, early afternoon...).

P.S. I discovered this nifty collage feature in Picasa, so I was able to share a lot more pictures than usual in the body of the blog post, but if you still want more, check out the Dec. 09 link under Albums.