'Twas the Day Before Christmas and Mom finally got her act together! We make gingerbread houses every year but we had to make our own from scratch this year. Claire, Shelby, and Jake had their own while Kailey and Emery shared one. (I made three batches of gingerbread dough and thought that was sufficient...)
Claire with her creation
Shelby and her house
Jake and his gingerbread cottage
Emery and Kailey showcase their artistic prowesss
The Nativity was the best one yet. Kailey read Luke 2 while the rest of us acted out the story. Emery was Mary. Danny was Joseph (as always). Jake was the Shepherd. Mimi the Sheep. Claire and Shelby were both angels. I was the innkeeper (all 3 of them). Claire, Shelby and I were the Wise Women. Madison was the sweet baby Jesus.
Christmas Day was wonderful and Santa and dad were much too generous.
The view of Christmas Morning...
Our missionaries came to call their families and have dinner with us. We enjoyed them for 4 hours!
St. Stephens Day (Boxing Day in Canada and the day after Christmas for the rest of us...) was a busy day. The kids and I flew back to New York in the afternoon. Danny took us to the airport and then headed to work to enjoy his busiest week of the year- all alone. Our flight was really pretty good. There were moments when I thought, "I am never doing this alone again!" However, I probably will. The kids really were good. Madi decided that she liked the sound of her scream. (We discouraged this.) Emery accidentally spilled her soda on Kailey's socks. Claire spilled her water (but the flight attendant took a long time to come and get the dinner trays.)
Danny arranged for a car service to pick us up- so we made it home to Fishkill without any problems. We were home before 9:00p.m. NY time.
It was very nice to be back home for a week. However, I wasn't quite prepared for what else was waiting for us. We had vermin and I HATE vermin. Luckily. their tracks were only found in the basement and kitchen. Our rooms were vermin free upstairs. So, I called an exterminator and told him to get rid of the little beasts. (Don't tell my kids. They still have no idea...) The only other little problem was that the battery in our big car was shot. THANK HEAVENS for good friends and neighbors! Jerry jumped the car and drove it around and realized that we needed a new battery. Pete went and bought the battery and installed it. They really are too good to us.
Our week in New York was very nice. The kids loved time with friends (Jake loved time with the Bucko boys and Mikey. The girls couldn't get enough time with Taylor. Claire and Emery enjoyed some time with Ethan, Aidan and Sheridan too.)
Jake and the Bucko Boys
Claire and Ethan
Emery and Aidan
Thanks for the memories!
