It sure is quiet around here

I haven’t been posting too often this month – no excuses.  But it has been busy!  This last week was no exception and I’m looking back with lots of good memories.

We had our staff Christmas party for Adoption Ministry in Puyallup, WA on Friday the 21st so Jeff and I drove up and back for the day.  I have such a wonderful job and an incredible team of people to work with.  Because I don’t see these folks every day at the office (I work at home), it’s always fun to be with them.

Lindsey, our youngest, arrived from Seattle that same night – bringing with her the dog she has been taking care of for the last several years, Ellie.  Ray, Lisa and Amy came the next day with Amy’s dog Sadie.  And just like that, our empty nest was buzzing with activity.  It makes me so happy!

 

I love dogs.  I really do.  I am not used to big dogs in the house so I need to adjust my attitude with food and water bowls on the (small) kitchen floor,  hair here, there and everywhere, dogs eagerly parked right next to me as I'm cooking in my (small) kitchen and bags of dog food and treats on many surfaces in my (small) kitchen.  A-hem!

We all went to Christmas Eve candlelight service together, which was wonderful.  Every year I look down the row and thank God that we’re all sitting there together.

My niece was born on Christmas Eve so we always celebrate her birthday with a breakfast that morning.  This year she celebrated double-digits!

We managed to eat our way through the rest of the day.  Christmas Eve is always finger food at our house – from hot super nachos to cheese & crackers to vegies & dip to chicken wings & sauce.  And there were also plenty of our traditional Christmas cookies – Special K bars – and dessert plates from the neighbors. 

Opening one gift on Christmas Eve sets us up for the family photo, with the girls in their matching pj’s.  (This was the first year no one returned them.  You can usually count on me to get the wrong size or style.)

My dad joined us on Christmas morning to open gifts and eat brunch.   I tried a few new recipes (thank you Pinterest) and everything tasted yummy (other than using too many Rhodes bread rolls for my monkey bread, leaving a doughy blob in the center).  For dinner we took a detour from our 'normal' and bar-b-qued flank steak, made baked potatoes, oven roasted asparagus and green salad.  We really missed Jeff’s mom, who had the nerve to go to Hawaii with two of her friends.

We also play games (a LOT) when everyone is home so you could often see either all or some of us at the dining room table playing Five Crowns, Bezzerwizzer, Up and Down the River, Anomia, Word on the Street or Dutch Blitz. No one in our family is competitive in the least. Christmas music played on the iPod all week long.

There was some sharing of phone apps, watching of old family videos, Wii frisbee golf playing, late nights and early mornings (remember the dogs?). There was food prep and clean up and good conversation and prayer over many meals. Three fights broke out and the guilty parties had to be separated – one in her crate and the other shut up downstairs. 

Ray and Lisa had to leave Christmas night to be back in Seattle for work but we loved having them for four days!  Amy and Lindsey stayed until Thursday evening so we had a bit longer with them. 

Anyway, there you have it!  I am exhausted but wouldn’t trade any of it!

Let's see what the new year holds!!
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