A Picture Is Worth . . . .

Barbie are you having problems with that gift?

Jimmy & his stepladder!

Charlotte & GJ playing before Christmas Eve dinner.

GJ & her favorite granddaughter!

Jimmy & his daughter at church.

Charlotte's first Christmas Eve.

Our little elf finally ran out of steam! Dad's shoulder makes a great place to nap!

Charlotte's Christmas Eve dress. What a beautiful baby.

Barb still likes opening presents on Christmas Eve.

This is my Christmas Elf. Mandy says she's not an elf, but she looks like one to me
in this darling outfit her parents got for her.

Even Grandma's get into the act on Christmas Eve. GJ got some
new sofa pillows for her new sofa. Thanks Barb!

Mandy is happy. Barb got her a gift certificate to have her hair done.
Can't wait to see what it looks like.

Odie's dressed for the Christmas Eve fun.

So many packages, such a little girl.

Just about ready for church and GJ had her picture taken with Charlotte.

The Davis Family.

The 'other' Davis Family. Me & my kids. Mandy took the
shot. Can't you tell she's a great photographer!

Barbie & Charlotte having fun.

It's been a while since I blogged. I was going to just quit blogging but a friend of mine talked me out of it. Guess I'll continue for a bit longer. It is a way for me to remember what I did (when I remember to put it in my blog!)

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so . . . here's some pictures from my Christmas Eve with my family. I drove to Ankeny on Tuesday already. Those darn weathermen kept on talking about the snow storm that was coming and finally scared me good. Barb called me at work on Monday (she never calls me at work, and very seldom on my cell) to ask when I was getting off for the holiday. My boss had told me I could leave after the mail was in and letters completed on Wednesday afternoon. Well, we all know what Wednesday afternoon was like. Dubuque had a lot of rain and some ice. Ankeny had rain. We had an all-agency staffing planned for Wednesday morning but after hearing all the weather forecasts, that was cancelled. After my phone call from Barb I went in and begged my boss to give me some extra time off. I took 2 days without pay, but I was able to be with my family on Christmas Eve.

The trip down wasn't exactly a piece of cake. Dubuque had gotten 3-4 inches of snow the night before and the highways were a little dicey, but as you can see I made it into Ankeny without any mishap. I'm sure I frustrated a number of drivers out on 20 as I stayed in the slow lane and didn't drive real fast until the roads cleared!!! Once the roads were clear I sailed into town.

I spent Wednesday at Barb's doing laundry, reading and catching up on some of my computer stuff. Still didn't get cards out to anyone. And I made a lot of them this year.

Thursday was my day with my kids at Jim & Mandy's. This is the first Christmas in my whole life (62 years) that I didn't spend with my sister. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful Christmas with my family, but have to admit I missed Glee and her gang. But we're all scheduled to get together on January 16th (weather permitting) and I'm sure we'll have a great time. I had a wonderful time with my children. Would do the same thing all over again.

Barb and I loaded up the sleigh (Barb's car) and took off for Urbandale around 1:30. Mandy came to the door and told us to keep it down, if possible, Charlotte was trying to nap. We made numerous trips in the house with all our goodies, but the little rascal woke up anyway. And yes, we tried to be quiet!! She was so cute in her little 'elf' dress. I just love that little girl to death!!

Mandy had a fantastic dinner for us. Had a little trouble with the wine bottle, but Jim got it open and we enjoyed it very much. We left the dishes on the table and adjourned to the living room and the present opening began. One of the pictures is of Jim's stepladder (or a picture of him holding a piece of paper about a stepladder). I have to tell you the story behind it. I did get him a stepladder (7 footer). Barb actually picked it up and got it over to their house one afternoon. Between her and Mandy they 'hid' it under the bed in the spare bedroom downstairs. Jim knew that Barb had been over (she picked up another package from me to Mandy) and asked about it. Mandy gave him some story about an awkward and/or heavy gift I had purchased for him and that Barb had brought it over early. She gave him a few hints about Glee helping me pick it out. He came to the conclusion that I had bought him one of those 'big' (and heavy) rocks for their front steps, front yard (or whatever they wanted to put it). He fussed about it (Mandy's words) for quite a while and that was that. He couldn't believe that I would buy one of them when after asking Mandy if he'd like one (two years ago) that I went ahead and bought one anyway!! On Wednesday night (the night before Christmas Eve) their kitchen ceiling started leaking (AGAIN!). Jim had taken Barb's stepladder back (darn it) and decided he better get out the extension ladder and get on the roof and try and get rid of some of the ice that had formed. Mandy hated to see him do that so . . . she told him about the ladder. She said the look on his face was priceless (Mastercard!!) Anyway, that's the story behind his stepladder. I would have loved to let the story go on for a bit before he opened that particular gift, but glad that he was able to use it when he needed it. That's why I bought it for him! We put it to use when we took pictures of the whole family. Made a great place to sit the cameras!

It was so much fun watching Charlotte. She loves the paper. She loves to rip it off the packages, but after ripping it off, you guessed it, it goes into her mouth! It was still fun watching her and just being with her. I think everyone was more than happy with what they got for Christmas.

We went to the 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service. It was snowing by then, but Jim's a good driver and got us there and back without a mishap. The service was beautiful. Charlotte was a good little gal. She got a little fussy toward the end, but she's only 8 months old!! Hope is a beautiful church. The candle service was wonderful. I particularly like the burro that brought Mary into the church for the story of Christmas. He/She was really cute!!

Barb and I finished loading up the car after the services and headed back home. Jim, Mandy and Charlotte then had their own Christmas Eve tradition. We had something to drink, watched a little TV and headed to bed. Christmas Day this big kid of mine, came running into my bedroom and jumped on the bed to wish me a Merry Christmas. It was a merry Christmas!! And it was a white Christmas!! Santa came during the night and left me some things in my stocking. (Actually I borrowed one of Barb's as I didn't know he was coming!) He brought me some scrapbooking things (fantastic) another snowman for my collection and some medication!!! Yep, medication! Barb needed to use some flex money and spent some of it on me!! Thanks Barb!!

Saturday morning it was still snowing (on and off) and cold, but we braved it all to do some returning. When I ordered Mandy's coat I accidentally ordered two. Duh!! There wasn't a problem in taking it back, just had to take it back. Bob had called Jim & Mandy and told them they didn't think they were going to have Christmas with the weather being the way it was. I mean, they didn't get together for Christmas on Christmas Day. Everyone had Christmas. They were home so we called to see if we could spend a little time with them again. Jim, Mandy & Charlotte had Christmas with her Dad and Mom and families New Year's weekend. Hope it was a good one!! I don't get to see Charlotte as much as I'd like and this was a great opportunity. As usual, she was cute as the dickens! She had a great visit from Santa and showed us all her toys and new clothes! We brought pizza and everybody enjoyed that. It was a great visit.

Barb and I did some shopping. Actually I did most of the shopping. I had coupons for Dress Barn and there's a good sized one in Des Moines so we just had to stop. I've limited my checking account to just what I need to pay bills so didn't have a lot of cash with me but my daughter came to the rescue. We found some wonderful things. Barb has good taste and had me trying on all kinds of tops and pants. Got some new jeans (needed them badly) some dress slacks (gray), and a couple of sweaters. Wow! I also got clothes from the children. I have a whole new wardrobe! We didn't stop there, we next went to the shoe store. I have some problems with my feet (or foot) and it's hard to find something that I can wear. It's also a little depressing, as there's not a lot that fits my fat little foot! Barb to the rescue! She found some!! I got a beautiful pair of brown slip-ons and a cute little black pair of ballet-type slippers. I'm set!!! Got home and washed everything up and relaxed!!

I came home on Sunday morning. Got into Dubuque around 2:00 p.m. I had a wonderful Christmas with my children. I hope that we have many more in the future.

My trees will stay up for a couple more weeks. I have a Christmas party here tomorrow night. The family gathering, as I said earlier, is scheduled for Saturday, January 16th. I hope my children get here. My nephew from Johnston and his family will be joining us, as will my brother and his wife (Sandie & Mark). Glee, Ron, Beth & Karsten and little Jackson and Mike and Callie. I'll have a houseful but it should be fun. I've been making some gifts and there's a few still under the tree for those that are coming. Should be fun!!! Can't wait to see how the little ones interact with each other.

I'll be a Great Aunt again in February. Beth & Karsten are expecting a little boy sometime the end of the month!! I'm excited about it. Beth has her babies here in Dubuque so that way I definitely get to see them when they're very little and brand new!!! Just like when Charlotte was born. Maybe not quite that fast -- I think I got to hold Charlotte before she was an hour old! That was a thrill!! Just take care Beth, we're all anxious for that little one to get here.

I believe I can now say . . . this ends the lesson for the day.

Sorry about the rambling on and on. I keep thinking of things we did. Got some great pictures and love sharing them with friends and family. I'll keep the next one a little shorter!!!