Christmas with the Vermont Family

My parents came to New Hampshire on Saturday to celebrate Christmas 2008 with us. Being 9 months pregnant made this holiday a little different. There has been a lot less driving this season. And a whole lot less hustle with my bustle.

I made a lasagna and then Grandma D., Grandpa D., Brandi and Angus showed up around noon. Luckily, they didn't hit any of the morning icing that was reported on the weather forecast.

Grandpa and Grandma brought a bunch of gifts for Gabriel, Michael and I. Gabriel got some toys including a top, a Glowworm, a stuffed sheep, a mobile for his crib, and a wooden dump truck. Michael and I were spoiled too, but I am most excited about all of my new pajamas, assuming I will be lounging around in those a bit more over the next few weeks. And Michael has already started wearing his new sweatshirts that he much needed.

Michael and I gave an "anti-gravity" car to Angus for Christmas. It is a remote control car that was suppose to drive on the walls and ceilings. I was a bit skeptical, but it really did work! We have textured ceilings, so it didn't work up there, but Angus was able to drive the car all over our walls. Brandi is becoming a high tech teenager, so she got an iTunes gift card and a USB port. That's the kind of Christmas shopping Michael likes!

Elleigh and Lucas were so excited to see all the company and the presents. Angus was so interesting to them, and yet, over stimulating as well. We haven't had anything that high energy in the house in a while. Probably since Angus' last visit.

After having some lasagna (and fudge, summer sausage, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, crackers, cookies...), Michael set the Wii up for Angus and Brandi to try their hand at bowling and golf. Michael made sure Angus' controller was firmly secured to his hand before letting him stand in front of his flat screen.

Elleigh and Lucas were so exhausted from the visit. They had to nap all afternoon with Daddy to recuperate.

Thank you for the visit, Mom and Dad!

Christmas will be so different for us next year when Gabriel is here.

Happy Thanksgiving

The past several years, Michael and I spent the actual Thanksgiving Day with his family. But this year, we packed up Lucas and Elleigh and drove to Vermont. Vermont trips are always whirlwind trips because I try to do so much in the little time that I have. I don't get back home often enough it seems.

Lucas and Elleigh slept entwined with each other on both the ride over and back. This was the first time Lucas got to meet his Grandparents on the Doaner side, and his cousins: Brandi and Angus.

I took a tour of Grandma's house, and the work my brother and an electrician have done on getting the house in shape to be rented. My brother is hoping to be able to move in before Christmas with his family.

Brandi's birthday is in early December, so I usually bring up her birthday gifts around Thanksgiving time. This year, she got a new assortment of books and a little cash.

Angus was in high energy mode on Thursday, so it was hard to get him to sit still long enough to photograph his new missing front teeth.

We had turkey and all the fixings: potato, gravy, coleslaw, deviled eggs, stuffing, squash, and rolls. This year's forgotten item was the yams. There's always something that never makes the table in every house.

Brandi, Angus, Mom and I sat down with the felted ball kit I got on my Grand View Knitting Retreat weekend. We wrapped yarn and used roving to make fluffy balls, and then stuffed them inside old nylons and put them in the washer for one cycle. It was quick and fun, and now we have four felted Christmas ball ornaments. I think next time, I would use more traditional Christmas colors. The fancy ornament hangers came from Target.

Michael helped my Dad open their new computer up and get it hitched up to the printer. Mom and Dad were working on my old hand-me-down Gateway that must be 10 years old at the very least. They were getting to the point where they could run errands between mouse clicks because the computer was so slow. They are now running on Windows Vista and Dad can't believe how fast his fantasy football website loads up.

Mom and I had little pieces of mince meat pie and maple pecan pie before it was time to pack up the dogs and drive back to New Hampshire in the pouring rain.

Lucas and Elleigh shared a small can of Thanksgiving Dinner dog food made by Merrick when we got them back home. Mmmm!