Christmas and New Year's 2009

Happy New Year everyone! This blog is long overdue, but it was a busy week between Christmas and New Year's and so I'm finally getting to it now! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas filled with family traditions and new memories. We had a great Christmas! I truly believe that the holidays are all about the kids and we loved seeing Colby discover the magic of Christmas this year. (Sorry Tracy, I had this in mind and then read your last post using this line too! I guess we really do think too alike, hey?!) Colby is a pretty smart little guy and we were trying to explain to him the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it. With his birthday just a couple of weeks prior, he was convinced that we were going to Jesus's house for a happy birthday party and kept singing, "Happy Birthday to Jesus!" I guess that made perfect sense to him and in a way, he's right! Although he was a bit confused why we weren't going to his house and having birthday cake. Hmm, we'll work on this again next year.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church as a family and enjoyed a beautiful service. Afterward, we headed back to my mom's house to enjoy the evening with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. The kids got Auntie Colleen a lovely necklace and gift certificate for Christmas for being the "Greatest Great Aunt" around! I hope she liked it! It was a very late night (not home until midnight!) but Colby did great. On Christmas morning, we got up and opened gifts together. It was really nice to be at home just the four of us and enjoying the time together. Jenna slept through most of it, but will be more awake next year, I'm sure! Colby LOVES his new kitchen that Santa brought him, along with the many, many other toys he received. He liked seeing the crumbs that Santa left on his plate, ensured he drank all of the milk, and enjoyed reading the message that Santa left him on the picture he colored for Santa! Pretty special!! We had my parents, along with Jody, Mike and Kendra over for brunch Christmas morning. I made a yummy wife saver (mmm!!!) and waffles for brunch. My grandma used to make the wife saver on our annual McCracken camping weekends on Sunday mornings for many years, so it was nice to do it on Christmas! Later that day, I told her I made it for brunch and she seemed very pleased with it! We stayed home for nap time and then headed over to my parents' house for exchange of gifts with my immediate family. It was pretty fun with all of the kids there! Thank you to everyone who completely spoiled our kids... Colby loves his new toys (and I'm sure Jenna will soon too!!) My dad's family came over for a big dinner late afternoon. It was great to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins! What a house full!! Again, it was a later night, but Colby did great. I was a bit worried, but he had a good nap, and hey, it's Christmas, right?! All in all, a perfect and wonderful Christmas!

Boxing Day brought a bit of a surprise! Colby woke up at 6:30 and wanted me to lie down with him. So I grabbed a pillow and blanket and he laid down next to me on the floor. Awww... I know! Next thing I know, Gerry is waking both of us up at 10:00 AM!!!! Wowzers!! I couldn't believe it! That has NEVER happened before. What a nice surprise!! :) Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson came over early in the afternoon, along with Bruce and Kourtney, and we opened up our gifts from the Cameron side. It was nice that Bruce and Kourtney timed it perfectly to come for a visit as they were passing through! Blake and Colby play so well together... I wish we lived closer so we could see each other more often!

On New Year's Eve, Gerry had to work until 2:30. We were planning to leave to Grande Prairie by then, but it didn't happen. So it was a later start to our trip up there. Oh well... we got away about 4:15 and arrived about 9:15. Colby did great travelling and didn't fall asleep at all, since he had slept for over 2 hours at home before we left. Jenna on the other hand, did not travel so well. She slept for quite a while of the trip and cried the rest. It broke my heart to have her crying in the backseat, but she was very happy to get out once we arrived and lie down and kick!! We stayed at Gerry's parents' new house. It was a bit busy this time with Katie there too. Colby and Katie got along fine and she really loves babies, so she was quite enthralled with Jenna! It was a nice visit and we enjoyed seeing Carmen and her crew for a while too! On New Year's Day, we headed out to one of Gerry's aunt and uncle's house in Sexsmith for a beautiful family get-together. We had a big turkey dinner with nearly the entire family there. It was great to see many family members that we don't see very often (some just once a year). Colby had a great time playing with all of the kids (and wrestling with cousin Dylan) and Jenna enjoyed the snuggles from all of her great aunts and cousins! We headed home today (Saturday) and the kids did so amazing on the drive home! Quite different for Jenna coming home than going there! Both of the kids (and I!) slept for quite a while and we only made one stop in Whitecourt for lunch! Jenna was very content, even awake and talking for a while in between naps and Colby really enjoyed the DVD player in the vehicle! Another great trip, but I think we'll be staying home for a while now. Two trips to Grande Prairie in 6 weeks is a bit taxing on us all!

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for a great 2010 ahead!

xoxo Gerry, Lesley, Colby, and Jenna