Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! Hope you had a great Christmas. We sure did. As usual lots of pictures were taken. We used my ugly green chair as our base for pictures this year. We actually couldn't get in front of the tree for all the gifts. The first two shots are of the tree and all the gifts. Ya think we had enough? The next one is my family. Aren't we a good looking bunch? Picture #4 is my children and Odie. Odie is Jim & Mandy's dog. Picture #5 is Jim with his brand new ISU sweatshirt! He was very happy about it. The last picture in the bunch is of all our kids. Barb, Jim, Mandy, Mike, Beth, Karsten and the newest member of the family -- Jackson. Jackson is Beth & Karsten's son. Isn't he adorable? We all think so.



Jim & Mandy arrived for the holidays on a snowy, icy, windy Saturday night. The Davis' had their Christmas Saturday, December 22nd at Duaine & Linda's in Luana. I got a call from Barb around 5:00 p.m. that they were heading out and that the roads and the weather were terrible. It took them over 3 hours to get here. Mandy & Jim drove one car and Barbie and her dad and his wife were in another. They all arrived at their respective homes safely but it was a bad trip for all. I was so happy to see Jim & Mandy when they finally got here. Thank goodness for cell phones. I was able to talk to Barb a few times to find out where everyone was! Jim & Mandy slept pretty good Saturday night -- they were pooped from the trip.



The weather didn't cooperate very much better on Sunday. My children were all getting together with their father in Cascade -- but there was a lot of ice and snow with windy conditions so Jim & Mandy made the decision to stay here for the day. I kept them busy getting ready for Christmas Eve festivities here. Barb made the decision to head back to Ankeny Sunday afternoon. Thankfully she made it safely. Monday dawned much better and the kids went out to do some last minute shopping. Odie and I held down the fort!! I had a couple of errands to take care of after lunch.



Glee, Ron and Mike arrived around 5:30 with Beth, Karsten, and little Jackson not far behind. Barb called around 3:00 and said she was on her way! She had to work Christmas Eve Day, the rest of us worked it out so that we didn't have to! We had plenty to eat while we waited for her. She got here around 6:30. It was great having everyone together for the holiday. We sat down and ate chili (which Jim & Mandy made) and cheesy potato soup.

Gift opening is always a lot of fun for us! Lots of gag gifts. This year Karsten got the CHICKEN, but I also got 2 more! One is a chicken keychain that plays the chicken dance song and the other crows! We'll see where those go next year!! Mike got Mikey money ($300). He told me when Jim & Mandy got married that I owed him $300 so that's what he got!! Jim and I had a good time putting that together! Mike also told me he needed candles for his home so . . . he got candles!! He got used candles, used candle holders and new candles! Barbie got her fuzzy pen again! Glee got some darling things for her rock garden. One was a frog from Jim & Mandy and Barbie found her a bug to put out when the weather is good! Can't wait to see what they all look like.

I fared very well. I got an ISU jacket from my daughter, beautiful towels for my bathroom (I'm changing colors, etc.) from Mandy & Jim, a wonderful pullover fleece from Jim & Mandy, music box, reed difuser, snowman lamp, Mandy & Jim gave me a beautiful book on their wedding (what a keeper!) and they also gave me the CD of their wedding. I promised a number of people books about their wedding so . . . this should keep me busy for most of the winter. I got other things as well, but sitting here and trying to remember is not working. The majority of them have already been put to use or put away. The tree will stay up for a while (when I get ambitious enough to put everything away), but I'll enjoy the lights and colors until I get to that point!!

Jim & Mandy took off for Council Bluffs after the gift opening. We just couldn't talk them into staying and leaving the next morning. They got into Des Monies around 3:30 or so and Council Bluffs a little after 6:00. They enjoyed Christmas Day with Mandy's dad's family. Roads were good going back to Des Monies.

We had a nice dinner on Christmas Day. Spent some time just visiting. Ron & Mike, Beth, Karsten & Jackson left after dinner. Glee stayed with Barb and I another night as she was picking up their new car on Wednesday! That was fun!! Barb and I went with her. Got some good pictures and got to see the new car. It's pretty cool!!!

Barb left this afternoon (Thursday). She helped me with some laundry, and putting some stuff away. We did some shopping both Wednesday and today. I had a couple things to return and was lucky and found something to replace what I returned. Hope Jim likes it! Barb should be home about now. Sounds like more icky weather coming for the weekend. Before Barb left we did some grocery shopping. I think I can handle whatever comes as long as I don't loose my electricity!

One of my gifts was a cutting system from Creative Memories from Barb. Can't wait to try that and a couple of other things out. I have Jim & Mandy's wedding to play around with, as well as a couple of books for my neice and sister. I'm going to do a baby book of Jackson for Beth & Karsten and a brag book for my sister and her husband. Should be fun!! I really do enjoy my scrapbooking!!

Well, it's about time I quit boring everyone and do something constructive around here. Like sweep the kitchen floor. It looks like it could use it!!

Hope all is well with everyone. Hope you all made some wonderful memories of Christmas and have many more in the new year.

Peace.