Welcome to the new year, everyone! Let's hope it's a year full of adventures big and small, good health all around, and significantly improved finances for all!
We had a wonderful Christmas! The kids were angelic during the long car rides, which seems too good to be true. They both entertained themselves with almost no assistance from us, Kirsi slept a good part of the time, and Jimmy muscled down his Dramamine with relatively little fuss, enabling him to enjoy the trip and avoid motion sickness. All in all, a huge success!
Gramma Jean's was a welcome interlude of rest and calm. We thoroughly enjoyed a few days of little to do, and only having one pet with us (Sophie, of course) seemed like heaven compared to the zoo we usually have to deal with. Sophie was a big hit with all the family, although I think Kirsi was slightly more spoiled than her. Kirsi was thrilled to make friends with all the family, and was particularly enthralled by her Uncle Kevin, who cured her of her fear of heights.
Chris, Kevin, the kids, and I all went out to play disc golf, and had a lot of fun although Kirsi pooped out after four or five holes and Jim was done after seven. The little marking disc Kevin bought her is still one of Kirsi's favorite toys. Think we could get Innova to pay us for that picture?
Then Christmas Eve in all it's lasagna-filled glory, with presents and family and dogfights! Jim had a great time playing with his cousins, and Kirsi basked in the attention of the adults. I'm so glad everyone was able to be there this year! And the highlight of the evening - seeing Gram, Kirsi, and Ari in their adorable matching pajamas:)
Off to Medford and a little sleep before Auntie Carol's house Christmas morning! Recurring theme of presents, family, crude jokes and lots of fun! All that was missing was the Virginia branch of the family, but we tried to make up for it with phone calls.
The next days are a blur of shopping, outings, and eating. Memorable moments include Jimmy learning to drive a go-cart, finding Kirsi and Sophie asleep in Grandpa Dan's arms after he babysat, The Boys going to see Avatar in 3-D, mini-golf with Jim, and the wonderful spectacle of Kirsi chowing down on pickles and lemons. Yes, of her own free will. Jim also learned the very traditional Pennington family card game, and was very mature about losing his money. He actually did amazingly well, and was the second-to-last one to leave the table. He also started styling his own hair, which was - interesting.
Chris got in an application at the best of the local HVAC companies, and we drove around some of the outlying areas to get a feel for where we'd like to buy a house. Now if we could just sell our house, we'd be, well, slightly better off, I guess.
Back up to Gram's for the Rose Bowl - let's just not talk about that, shall we? Then home on the 2nd to a houseful of animals who were very glad to have us home. We're getting back into the swing of things here now, but looking back wistfully on the Oregon weather. Hope your holidays all went as well as ours!
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