Christmas 2011

12/26/2011
     I hate to start this post off on a negative note, but within the past 2 weeks we have lost one family member and 3 family friends.  It's always hard to lose loved ones, but for some reason it seems to have even more impact when it is around this time of year.  We lost Uncle Bill around this same time 3 years ago.  How do you celebrate when those you love aren't here to celebrate with you?  I guess you just have to believe that even though you can't see them, they are actually here with us.  It's a way of reminding us about what is important and what is not.
     We totally took the easy road this year when it came to Christmas dinner at our house.  I didn't actually cook anything.  Well, I take that back, I made the deviled eggs.  We got a ham and turkey breast from Honey Baked Hams, I bought rolls and a veggie tray from the store, and our guests brought everything else.  A teeny tiny part of me feels a little guilty about it, but the rest of me feels perfectly happy with the decision.  Rather than spending time all day running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to figure out what goes in the oven when in order to make sure that everything is ready on time, etc, we got to spend our Christmas day enjoying our time with our family.
   
1/22/2012
     We celebrated the 12 days of Christmas, reading the advent calendar each night and the boys opening a present each night before bed.  I kind of went with a book theme this year so that at least they were getting something educational.  I think I did a fairly good job at having a life-giving Christmas, but I will still strive to do better next year.