Merry Christmas!

Christmas came so fast and soon was gone. I couldn't believe how fast Christmas crept up on us. I was so looking forward to the break. My sister would keep asking if we were ready for Christmas and I kept saying, "Nope!" But it came together just like it always does. The first Friday of Christmas break, Blakely and I went shopping for her Christmas presents since she only wanted clothes and didn't think I would pick out very good ones.(What!) It was a nice night, even though by 9:30 I was dragging. We enjoyed IHOP dinner and headed home. We had a whole week to enjoy off before Christmas day. We played and just enjoyed not having to be on the run. Christmas Eve, my Dad came down to spend the night with us. We had the traditional Manwaring dinner of clam chowder and I added in tomato soup(My Dad's). We watched The King was Born and visited about the Savior. The girls and my Dad played a game while I was getting everything ready and finished wrapping. I am sure the kids were dying to get up all night, but the rule is 6am. I am thinking maybe 7am next year. As soon as 6am hit we were woken up by kids. They got to open their stockings, but had to wait for Grandpa to wake up to open presents. Presents seem to be opened in record time, but I think everyone was happy with what everyone given. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and juice for breakfast. We played with the new toys and new games all morning. We then needed to get ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's Peterson for lunch. We enjoyed seeing cousins and yummy food. We returned home to play on our new Wii and clean up.





Saturday we went back to Grandma Peterson's for more fun. I didn't think we could handle more but we did. We still had a whole another week to play and clean until New Year's. We painted Grandma Peterson's hallway while Blakely and Katelyn watched 8 kids at my house all day. Wednesday we went swimming down to 1000 springs with Chelsea, Brandi, and kids. That was pretty fun. We then went to my Dad's house for hot dogs. It was a pretty long day. Thursday we went bowling in the afternoon and then Chelsea and kids came over for a wild New Year's Eve bash. We played games, ate, and banged on pots and pans. We banged on pots and pans at about 10 pm thinking the party was winding down but the kids kept it going until about 11:30 pm. We love it when cousins come to play. New Year's Day we went to breakfast at the bishop's house. This is a 3 year tradition so far in our ward, but we do have a new bishopric.? We knew it was coming but we had to get ready for school to start. So that starting the taking down of the Christmas tree that day. We had to make sure the house was ready for Mom and kids to head back to school on Monday. This has been a nice relaxing break and I am grateful to have been surrounded by family and friends as we celebrated the birth of our Savior and welcomed in a new year. Thank you for those who helped us do this. We love you all.