Christmas---Part 1

Happy New Year!

The holidays went really well for our family. Jay had 3 weeks off work and Lauren had her 2 weeks of school vacation in there too. We had a lot of family time and lots of extended family time too.

My parents came up on Christmas Eve to spend the night with us. Christmas morning around 3 AM Lauren called me and she was burning up with a nice little fever. That wasn't exactliy the gift I was hoping for but luckily it went away with in a day. She was still up by 8 ready to tear open her gifts. Basically the theme of the day was "Spoiled Rotten". Lauren got so many Sleeping Beauty things... a doll, a scarf, a shirt, princess stationary, and both girls got pink princess dress-up dresses. It was a sea of pink under the tree basically. Lainey received a high chair for her babies from Santa. She also got an Eeore and Piglet, a mickey and a Clifford stuffed animals. They also got tons of books from everyone.

One special item that Jay had been sneaking around to get ready was a set of three necklaces. The girls and I each were given a very special gift. Jay had taken in a ring that had belonged to his mother and had it melted down. Each necklace has one of the 3 diamonds and they are made from the same gold as the ring. The pendant is a heart shape with a tear inside. He gave each of us letters that he personalized to let us know why he did it, what it meant to him and why he wanted us to have them. That was the point where I sat and cried for awhile unable to get past the first few sentences of the letter. I knew the ring had been very special to his Mom and that she would be so happy to know that the girls had a part of it. She loved them so much... and me too of course. :o)

Christmas Day we stayed home, had a nice big breakfast and I think I was in my PJs most of the day.

We headed to Tweed on the 28th for my extended family gathering. It was nice to spend time with my brother and his family. Our kids play pretty well together. We also got to spend some time with my Grandma. She's very into Christmas. When I went in to her house to see her she was like a little kid and got under her tree to show me all her presents.

Well that's enough for today. Lainey is trying to do a 24 piece puzzle of Max and Ruby so I have to help her ( a lot) with it. Lauren is back at school now so I should have more time to update this again.