Pictures of Christmas!

I have some pictures from our first Christmas here in Mascoutah, IL that I wanted to share. We had a wonderful Christmas; to quote Eric's youngest 2, "it was the best Christmas EVER!". In my not so humble opinion, it ranks right up there for me with some of the best I have had. We spread it out over a few weeks, given the travels of the younger kids, and we opened gifts here on New Year's Eve, amidst laughter, playfulness, and gleeful surprise.

These are, from top to bottom, putting up the tree the night before the kids had to leave (Cliff set it up for me, then the kids all put on the lights and started hanging ornaments), the front door of our house (not sure if you can see the two red bulbs amongst the white ones!), and our tree with most of the gifts under it on the 31st before our celebration. Then, on the 31st, we had our party. Rei's girlfriend Kimmie joined us for the evening (actually, she was here most of the weekend!) and she is a sweetheart. We were glad to have her here!

We used the tradition from my family of opening from youngest to oldest, and Kimmie and Rei went first. Rei got a movie he really wanted, some video games, and some gaming assecories (his flight to MN counted as part of his gift from Eric and I). Kimmie had gotten a "Hello Kitty" kitty from the build-a-bear workshop from Brie and Aurora, as well as some assecories from Eric and I, and Rei gave her some slippers (that he had forgotten in MN--She got them on Saturday when Liisa's package arrived). Aurora got a robe and slippers set from my sister and her family, which she really loved and wore the rest of the night over her clothes, and from Eric and I she got a nice camera. Patrick got a new "hobo jacket", which he needed to replace his old raggedy one, and Eric and I gave him a nice mountain style bike so he has an "eco-friendly" form of transportation now. Cliff received a number of misc. things, including some windpants he needed, as well as many Cardinal's related things (the baseball team, not the bird), and Brie got some clothes, games/movies, and a really nice tall tv stand/night table (with two drawers in it) for her large gift. Eric got some fun gag-style gifts, including a stuffed pig and fur-lined handcuffs (to celebrate his policeman status), and I made sure he got a nice lined Nike windsuit for when he goes to his training classes at the end of the month. I also got him some nice flannel p.j. pants, and a pretty glass dragon. I was with Eric when he bought my gifts, so I was thrilled with my presents: a beautiful cross with 6 small diamonds in it on a lovely white gold chain, a book by the "Yarn Harlott" I really wanted (I have link to her blog if you are interested in reading her stuff), a magazine subscription to a cross stitch magazine, and the kids thoughtfully got me candles, incense/scented oils, a beautiful glass dragon (a larger version of the one I got Eric!), and the first season of "House" on DVD. I am sure I will enjoy that while Eric is gone next month! The final picture is of Rei buried in a mountain of wrapping paper. If you look closely, you can see his hand...

Earlier in the week we had the opportunity to share Christmas greeting's with Eric's brother Tony and his wife Vera, and with Eric's parents, when we were in IN picking up the kids. It was so wonderful to see all of them, and the best part is how much it just "felt like family" being together. Tony and his wife had never met me before, so I was a little nervous going into it, although I adore Eric's parents, and couldn't ask for better in-laws; They were so warm and welcoming that I ended up feeling right at home, and it was a really good visit. The kids had fun, they had an opportunity to wear off a little energy rambling in the neighborhood before our 6 hour car ride home, and it was nice being all together. Reimond later said that he really had fun there, and suggested we go there once a month at least to visit! Eric and I agreed that would be nice, but as with MN, it's a bit far to go for a brief visit on a regular basis, albeit not impossible, as this visit proved... I too am looking forward to "doing it again!"

Eric is off this coming weekend (today is the start of his "short week, working only Wednesday and Thursday overnights), so my guess is we will take down the tree and get back to what passes for normal around here; I have had an emotional holiday this year, and while I do miss my family back home, it has been a wonderful start of new traditions and ideas.