Christmas

We didn't take nearly enough pictures of the Christmas festivities. We had such a great time though and I felt like maybe the kids actually got the whole point of the season this year. We kept things simple. I think that helped. With the help of Grandparents, they were spoiled anyway. Some of the highlights - Christmas Eve dinner with friends, acting out the nativity (Ashley played the angel, inn keeper, and sheperd), singing Christmas songs, buying presents for others, Christmas eve breakfast with friends, Christmas dinner with Laurie - it was nice to have family here and a place to go - and Hans around most of 3 whole days in a row. It was great. Santa brought the girls each a webkinz, an outfit, a coloring book, and for Kate a leotard, and Ashley a barbie. Ashley took the barbie back to walmart yesterday and got crafts instead. Justin got a Thomas lego set, a coloring book, and a shirt. Mia got a book. I think the favorite toy for the girls were pixos. Those are pretty cool. And for Justin it was definately the Thomas legos. He loves those. Mia doesn't really care, but my favorite for her were some new cute shoes she'll actually keep on. Thanks mom for those. It's nice to have new toys to occupy their time this week. Ashley still has school off and we really don't have anything planned. It's been relatively relaxing. I'm feeling the rush to get Christmas stuff put down, returned, and sorted through so that I can get everything ready for Hawaii. Hans and I are going ALONE to Hawaii January 31st. For 8 nights. 9 days. Yipes. I'm excited and nervous. And not sure my friends know what they are in for. Ashley is going to Kim's house to be with Kaylee, Justin is going to Jenn's house to be with Andy and Ashley, and Katelyn and Mia are going to Melanie's house. And I have a lot of people "on call." So thanks in advance to all of you. Hans and I also went skiing on the 27th (8 year anniversary) at Arapahoe basin in the 8 degree weather. It was ridiculously freezing, but the edge was off by noon and we had a great day. It's crazy to think we've been married for that long. But also for not that long considering everything that we've done. I marvel sometimes that we are still married after 4 children, a new business, 4 years of dental school, nursing school, 3 moves, and lots of stress. I think if we stayed strong through that we can manage whatever is ahead. Anway, the kids did 11 hours with the babysitter. They did great. The babysitter was awesome. I love her. She was tired, but the kids were fed 3 meals, dressed, played with, and happy. Wow. It was good prep for me for Hawaii. Now we are busily preparing ourselves for New years eve tomorrow. Hans is working til 8 pm. People actually want to see him that late on a holiday. So I am planning a party for the kids. We made a pinata, which turned out great and stuffed it with way too much candy. Since we could use more candy. I will attach pictures soon. I think all I have is Christmas morning. I didn't even take pictures of them on the balance beam we managed to sneak into the house only to have Katelyn "discover" it hidden in the basement on Christmas Eve. It's hard to hide a 16 foot balance beam. They haven't even played much on it yet. I'm hoping we get some use out of it. If not, it was a great, inexpensive Craigslist find. Hans bought me a huge variety of gu things to eat while I train for the marathon. I tried my first one yesterday on my first training run of 10 miles. I think it helped. Kind of upsets the GI system, but I'm hoping I get used to it. I returned the heart rate monitor he got me (i'm not 40 yet) and bought new ski boots, ski pants, ski jacket, hat, goggles, and gloves all for the same price thanks to Kim's dad's coupon. That was awesome. Thanks! I am definately rambling.

You can go ahead and give yourself a great big pat on the back if you read all of this. It's nice to get some of the details written so I won't forget.