Way to go. I've let almost 3 weeks go by since I've blogged about Christmas.
Here's the rundown, with pictures:
The Tuesday/Wednesday before, Dave & Brooke came through on their way from Tampa to Pittsburgh for an overnight stop. Dinner, drinks, shopping, good buys, and fun times were had.
Christmas Eve brought wrapping, unwrapping, and car packing for a trip to Raleigh the next day. Rowdy, at this point, had taken over the Christmas tree skirt as his own bed. No point in arguing... it was a losing battle. Pirate dogs always win.
Fletch's new winter hoody. Nice that he's bored to sleep.
Rowdy's new bed also doubles for present storage.
Christmas Day we trekked to Raleigh and took up camp at Mom's. We spent the afternoon and evening with Mom and Granny eating, opening presents, napping, eating, and eating. Good grief... I love going home to my mom's for holidays!
The next day, Kevin was excited to wake up and go straight to Golfsmith (a golf superstore that a friend of mine runs that, as of right now, hasn't come to Charlotte) for after Christmas sales. And you thought I was the only shopper under our roof!??! Later that evening, we went to visit our friends, Steve and Ann to watch the second installment of Narnia. As a reminder, these are our friends that have the HUGE swing in the backyard that I posted a video of a few weeks ago. Well, Steve talked Kevin into doing it in the dark this time. Dark. And upside down. And closing his eyes. I just stood on the porch and prayed.
Saturday, we headed out early, but took our usual stop to see little Braxton, baby Annalise, Jim, and Erica. I think Kevin and Braxton are new BFFs. Braxton got a puppet show tent for Xmas and he and Kevin were inside playing... when I tried to go in, Braxton said "no girls allowed". I've been ousted from the club. Kevin says he'd have a human baby now if it would come out Braxton's age (which is about 2 1/2 yrs) - I reminded him that would be a little painful on my end, but a lovely thought. I, on the other hand, enjoyed time holding and bouncing baby Annalise (who has just turned 2 months). I kinda like 'em that size. They're just so soft and squishy!
We got home Saturday afternoon in time to clean up, unpack, and prep for Brooke & Dave, who were coming back through for the night, and our friends Kara and Bryant to come over for post-holiday munchies and drinks. The guys couldn't pull themselves away from the shuffleboard table most of the night (which is great, because that's probably the 4th time we've ever used it!), and Brooke was the most excellent Arnold Palmer maker (lemonade & sweet tea vodka).
We had a wonderful holiday 2008 season. It was relaxing.... filled with fun and memorable moments of our close friends and family... and special moments with our little family. And now we're ready to kick off 2009!