Happy Holidays

Every year the holidays seem to get busier and busier.  This year was no exception.  We were blessed with good health throughout the holiday season.  After Thanksgiving we put out all the decorations.  A week and a half later when went to our favorite Christmas tree seller.  We kicked off our holiday activities with Molly's winter carnival.  Duane and I signed up to split a two hour volunteer shift.  Duane went first and was assigned the cotton candy making station.  I went back to check on him and he was covered from head to toe with cotton candy.  I decided to make myself scarce with the kids to go play games and do crafts when it was time for shift change.  He was doing such a good job I didn't want to interrupt the fun;)  I am embarrassed to say that until this year Mallory had not sat on Santa's lap.  So we had to fix that this year.  She and I had a special afternoon together at the mall seeing Santa, riding the Christmas train and playing in the play area.  I joined her for a special holiday lunch at her school on another afternoon.  Aunt Susan came to town to take the girls to the Nutcracker.  She surprised Molly at her class holiday party the day she got here.  Molly was thrilled to have her there.  It was Duane and Mallory's first time seeing the Nutcracker.  They all looked beautiful in their Christmas outfits and even got to sit on Santa's lap.  Since she was here to watch the girls Duane and I were able to go to my staff Christmas party and sneak away for the night to use up our free nights stay at the Hueston Woods Lodge.  We had dinner at a romantic little Italian restaurant with fantastic food in Oxford and enjoyed the night in a beautiful sweet overlooking the snow covered lake.  It was wonderful to get a way and take a break from the hustle and bustle.  We made it to Woodland Lights the night before Christmas Eve 20 minutes before they stopped letting people in for the night.  It was a cold, crisp night with snow on the ground.  The girls had just enough time to ride a few rides and see Santa again.  Then we took our time walking through and looking at the beautiful lights.  We were the last ones to leave.  It was a special night.  We did lots of baking cookies and cooking our special dishes the days before Christmas.  We went to Christmas Eve mass and came home to share our favorite meal.  We wrote notes to Santa, read Christmas stories, put out the milk and cookies and spread some reindeer food in the yard.  We were awoken around 8:00 to little monkeys jumping on our bed.  They barely let us light the fire and put on a cup of coffee.  Then in record time they opened up their gifts.  Madison was excited to get her very own digital camera that also records videos.  Molly loved her spy kit and Mallory was thrilled to get the elephant game that she had been asking for.  They all three got  a new mini-trampoline and a gymnastics mat.  We ate breakfast casserole and spent the rest of the day in our jammies, playing with toys and watching Christmas movies.  It was a perfect Christmas!  The next day we all went to see Tangled, loved by all and spent the day packing up and running a few errands.  We celebrated Mammaw's birthday with the family the next day in Massillon.  It was a whirl wind trip with lots of visiting with family and friends.  The day after we got home we spent the evening catching up with the Oakes.  For our third year we rang in the New Year with the Cloyds.  We hosted this year.  The kids played great together and the grown ups had lots of laughs.  It was a great end to 2010 and ring in 2011.  We are blessed with a loving family, a happy home, wonderful friends, good health and many more blessings to come in the new year!