Christmas 2010

Christmas has come and gone which means it's now time to pack up the decorations and pray that this short week goes just as quickly as 2010!  Robin and I had some very great Christmases with my family and with his.  We received many gifts that were both useful and meaningful and thankfully most of the gifts we gave were welcomed and needed as well.  I suppose I should not focus on what we received as that isn't the real reason for Christmas but I'm not feeling as though I should go into deeper meanings and will just stick with the superficial ones.  Hopefully that is good with you, reader!

We left Kansas City after work on Tuesday of last week.  We took our time getting home and spent a lot of the drive talking.  I almost always enjoy car trips with Robin because he has finally gotten the hint that now and then he needs to be awake and interactive rather than fall victim to what we kindly refer to as "carcolepsy."  It's a nasty case of "I can't stay awake in the car" syndrome and Robin's got it bad.  But this trip was an exception and we had some good conversation on the 3.5 hour drive home. 

We had plans to see a movie on Wednesday but my parents live in a small town that is about 20 minutes from the nearest theatre.  That theatre wasn't showing the movie we wanted to see and another wasn't showing it until 3:00 p.m.  Unfortunately we had dinner plans that night so we chose to stay home.  Robin worked a half day from his computer and phone while I did a whole lot of nothing except watch tv, read magazines, etc.  We ate lunch at the local cafe, Goldies, which used to be an ice cream joint only but now serves pretty darned good food.  We were even served by Goldie who had to give Robin a hard time about being such a picky eater.  I'm glad we went!  That night the four of us (Mom, Dad, Robin and I) went to Altoona (local city) to have dinner.  It was an interesting time.  Robin was of course absorbed in football.  Dad was his usual clumsy self and spilled an entire beer, barely missing Mom's lap.  Mom and I attempted conversation...until the food came!  What can I say?  My family knows how to eat!

Thursday Mom, Robin, and I went to Pella to meet my Grandma Mac and Uncle Rod for lunch.  First, Pella is this completely Dutch city about 20-30 minutes from our house.  It's really unique...and we love to make fun of it!  It's so weird!  It has some amazing attractions though...okay, make that a bakery and a restaurant but I do like the little town.  Anywho, we couldn't go to my Grandma's for Christmas so we chose to do lunch.  We had Chinese which was wonderful and exchanged gifts there.  My Uncle brought us a dish set for the baby.  We're pretty excited to have thsoe for her!  After lunch, we walked the streets and visited many of the local shops.  Our first stop was Smokey Row, my favorite coffee shop of all time.  While standing in line, my Grandma slipped me a folded up Kleenex and said to "unwrap it carefully."  As I unwrapped it, I found a ring but not just any ring.  It was my Great Grandma's ruby ring.  I think I was in shock!  I still can't believe it!  I'm going to get it sized for my fingers so that I can wear it but I'm so happy to have it.  Shopping was a lot of fun as Grandma said she hadn't gotten to do that for a long time and we found some unique items you can't get just anywhere.  I have to admit I love little towns like this that have shops that aren't chains.  If you're ever in the area, check this little town out or make a special trip to Tulip Time.  It's a good one for locals and for one timers.  http://www.pella.org/.  My favorite places to stop are Jaarsma Bakery (better than the one just a few doors down, if you ask me), Smokey Row, and a fantastic little kitchen store that I can't quite recall but it's right on the main square.

We woke up on Friday morning to snow and lots of it!  Dad was already outside with the snow blower then graduated to a bigger piece of machinery to help the neighbors.  One thing you can never say about my Dad is that he's not willing to help his friends.  He spent the first half of the day on snow duty, even catching my Grandpa out attempting to scoop snow.  Remember, my Grandpa just had both knees replaced a few months back.  Naughty, naughty!  Meanwhile, Mom, Robin, and I stayed cozy inside and watched some movies from home rather than our traditional trek to the theatre.  We were a little worried about the weather and none of us felt that adventurous!  I made some hot cocoa and we snacked on Mom's goodies most of the day.  That evening we had Christmas at my Grandma and Grandpa's house which was a lot of fun too.  Grandma made quite a spread of food this year and we took some leftovers home.  Grandma gave me a really beautiful blue scarf and a robe that'll fit my ever growing belly, plus can stick around after the baby is born.  The dogs even got toys which they had to fight over, of course!

I hate snow but it's hard when it's this pretty!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Wicker's house, 12/24/10.

Finally, Christmas morning arrived and I awoke to Robin and my Mom singing a few lines of Christmas carols in the kitchen.  They are two peas in a pod!  We ate a great breakfast of our traditional pepperoni bread and eggs, mimosas for the non-preggers, OJ for me.  Then it was time for presents.  Everyone received amazing gifts this year and there were even tears, as we knew there might be.  My Dad was the big winner in the giving department.  He and my sister worked together to get Mom airfare from Des Moines to Taos, NM in February.  That's where Sarah and Ben, her fiancee, live now so we don't see them as often as we'd like.  Mom cried and hugged Dad and I'm pretty sure there was a smooch in there too.  I cried because she was crying...and Robin lied and said there was something in his eyes.  LOL!  I gave Robin the router he wanted and Mom and I both gave him tool bags, a commical mistake on our parts.  Robin hit it out of the ballpark by giving me several bags of loose leaf teas (mostly decaf, of course), a travel tea cup that can even go in the microwave when I'm at work, chocolate, and a book.  Mom and Dad gave me a couple really great gifts too like a tea pot to heat water up at home, maternity pajamas which I sorely needed,
It's slipping my mind what my Dad received though I know we got Mom and Dad a Shark Steam mop and Cranium so they can play with friends.  I would say we had a very successful giving and receiving year!



Mom was SO excited to get airfare to see Sarah in New Mexico!



I got a super cool cup that has a built in tea diffuser.  Hubby done good!

Robin and I had to leave around noon so that we could go back home, clean, and prepare for his family Christmas at our house on Sunday.  Robin even took time to grout and clean up the new tile in the spare full bath upstairs.  I got all of the cooking done, just in the nick of time, and all of the family was able to come.  We haven't gotten to see Robin's Mom, sister, or neice in a while as they live in Arizona but hopefully they got their gifts and enjoyed them.  I'm just hoping they can come up when the baby is born!  Back to the Simms - Sol family Christmas.  We had lots of food and all of it was good!  The kids each got a gift from one of the families and we even did a gift exchange with the adults this year.  Next year, Robin will need to be smarter with the rules!  We took family photos which I must say is quite a fiasco with so many family members.  I'm crossing my fingers we get another good one as we did have a great one last year.  It'll be hard to beat that one!  The kids ran around like wild ones in the basement and the adults had time to talk...while yelling at kids.  Ahhh...the sounds of Christmas in our home!  Everyone left by 9 p.m. at which point Robin took my picture for Week 26 and I went directly upstairs and collapsed.  I could barely move by the time I crawled under the covers.

The Simms-Sol Christmas.  It would not be complete without feeling cross eyed (LOL)!

Week 26, after the Simms-Sol Christmas, 12/26/2010

Which brings me to today and the fact that I'm back at work.  The office is quiet with only a few of us here and my boss has come in only a few times just to ask a question now and then.  I have nothing on my "to do" list so I'm sitting here writting this and sipping on some peppermint hot tea, thinking about how blessed we are to have such great families.  Our Christmas card holder has overflowed with all of our friends' cards and we're also thankful that we have so many to share our time with.  I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas, no matter how you spent it or what you gave or received.  My favorite parts, in recap, were these:

1)  Spending Wednesday cooped up with Robin because we almost never just stay home these days.

2)  Lunch with Grandma Mac and Uncle Rod Thursday followed by shopping with Grandma, Mom, and Robin.  I wish we could do that more often!

3)  Receiving my Great Grandma's ring.  I am a traditional kind of girl and I love having heirlooms that my little girl will receive someday.
4)  Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa!
5)  Christmas morning with Mom and Dad.  Specifically, Mom's excitement at getting the airfare to go see Sarah!
6)  Sarah's texts to say she loved the watch I got her.  I was so worried she'd hate it!
7)  Christmas with Robin's family at our home.  It's work but well worth it!

Next update...New Year's!!