Another Christmas Gone...

It is hard to believe that 2017 is almost over. It literally seems like just yesterday we were coming home from Colorado and I was fighting the thought that summer was almost over. Now Christmas is over and there is 5 days left in 2017.

Our Christmas started on Friday the 22nd and went until Christmas Day. Granted there was one down day in between our first Christmas gathering and Christmas Eve it didn't seem that way... the 22nd Christmas was celebrated at my mom's with my siblings, their wives and my nieces. This is one of our favorite gatherings because it is the first time we get to hang with our brother Bryan, who always come home from Minnesota. 

We get him all or ourselves before having to share him with like 30 other people. The kids look forward to it because they find out who their Secret Santa is... the cousins exchange names and it is a lot of fun, even for the little ones. This year we got to celebrate in pj's, which I have decided is the only way to celebrate Christmas... no fancy clothes or worrying about eating to much. 

This year's godfather gifts from their godsons

We spent the evening playing games and laughing, a lot. Tim and I planned on spending the night of all our boys crashed but Evan (and his twin cousin, Stella) were still going strong. We know we weren't going to get him to sleep so we loaded up about midnight and headed home. 

Saturday was a rest day but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was in an extremely foul mood so we talked to no one and hid from everyone... then went to bed at 8p.

The twin cousins. Where one is the other is close

behind... and they could pass off as twins.

We had an early start on Sunday and wouldn't you believe it, that was the day our boys decided to sleep in. Even Oliver was still sleeping at 7a when we had to wake him. We were off to my Dad and Stepmoms house where my boys LOVE hanging out because there are actually boys to play with, my stepbrother has 2 boys. 

My Niece Baleyn and I.

We hung out there watching Christmas movies, playing gift exchange games and laughing it up. Before we knew it we were headed to see my Grandpa Zip for a few minutes before heading to my Grandma Ruth's house for Christmas with the Vasquez Family.

Grandma Ruth opening her gift.

 Here we visited with many relatives, did our sock gift exchange and the kids ran like crazy. 

These are going to be my lucky BINGO socks.

I started not feeling to good so we left there about 10p, the boys passed out about a mile down the road and Tim and I enjoyed the quiet 50 minute ride home. 

Monday Oliver woke us at 6:30. We asked him if Santa came, unsure and scared he ran into Carter's room to wake him and have him go downstairs with him to check. Once they saw all the gifts Oliver ran back upstairs and woke dad (Tim) up... and attempted to wake Evan up, who could have given two craps about Santa and presents. Oliver enjoyed the fact that "Santa" took two bites of two cookies and drank all of his milk. Carter, God love him, doesn't believe but plays along and it is just the cutest thing. We enjoyed the morning with our boys opening gifts and playing with them. I think they were all excited about their beach toys, trunks, chairs and vacation (hell, I am too and I wasn't even surprised with the vacation). 

We were at Tim's parents by noon for the Seboldt Christmas where I kinda laid low because my headache was still giving me lots of pain. 

We left there about 6p, drove around looking at Christmas lights before heading home and heading to bed. 

Tuesday I was lucky enough to be off work and allowed my boys to recover from their Christmas hangover in the comfort of our home. Where they played quietly with their new toys and allowed me to get a few things done. 

Like nap with Evan.

We really just took it easy most the day and about 2p finally changed out of our pj's... so when Tim came home from work he didn't thing we were bums all day. 

The weekend flew by but a lot of memories were made. Look out 2018, we are coming for you.

All the Feels...

Since Oliver has been born there is just something about Christmas that gets me all warm and fuzzy inside. Growing up there are very few Christmases I remember being magical, unless you count sitting around the table as your parents tell you how much you cost them that year. There is nothing magical about it. Therefore, I grew up hating, no, LOATHING Christmas. When I moved our there were years I didn't put up a tree or give gifts. Once Carter was born my heart grew a little. I was a stingy mom and didn't spend much on Christmas. I truly didn't make it "magical" I still hated it, the loathing part faded a bit. Then Oliver was born and something changed. I was putting thought into the holiday, I was decorating the house, making cookies, playing Christmas music for a month straight... the list goes on. I have even started many traditions, on top of keeping a few old ones (or maybe just one). 

The traditions I kept:

Even when I wasn't decorating for Christmas this guy has ALWAYS made his way to my shelves. My Uncle, who is 6 years older than I am, bought it for me for my first Christmas and Kermit has been my Christmas companion ever since. I think this is what sparked my love of Kermit... Happy 37th Christmas Kermy!

My mom always decorated the house the day after Thanksgiving. Until the last couple years I was lucky to even decorate. I have picked up my mom's old tradition and the day after Thanksgiving Tim knows to go to the basement and pull every single tote of Christmas decorations out, even if I am not using them, before he leaves for his rabbit hunt. I may not get everything 100% decorated that Friday but I do start. 

I have kept was my ornament making tradition my mom forced me into in 1999. The tradition started with the Zimmermann family women with a homemade Christmas Ornament exchange. The first two years I only made 8 and would exchange them with the Zimmermann family women. Then by 2001 I decided to make extras for my co-workers (I worked with 60+ and they gave gifts and I wasn't about buying for that many people). I did snowmen made out of foam balls and they loved them. I decided to keep with the theme of snowmen and my co-workers looked forward to getting one every year. I am in my  15th year of making snowmen and every year I make them out of something different, never to repeat. This year I make them out of keys and they are totally adorable. 

2016 Version

I have always gave my Uncle Mark (my godfather) a bottle of alcohol for Christmas and I will never change this... I did once and he was rather disappointed. 

A few traditions I added to the mix:

This year we baked Christmas cookies to warm up the house. I got an impromptu visit from my SIL and Oliver had to call Grandma Linda to come help because "she likes to bake". I am thinking next year it is going to be a thing. I think about 2 weeks before Christmas I will have them, and Lacey (the twins gf) bring their favorite dough already made and we will have a day of wine and baking while the kiddos play. I had fun with them all there visiting and I really think it should be a thing. 

Since Carter was born, remember I said I was a stingy mom well I was a broke single mom really... when it came to presents he only got four. Yep that even includes Santa's gift. I did the "need, want, read, wear" thing before Pinterest made it cool. Santa normally gave the read or wear present, whichever was cheaper. I have kept those same gift guidelines but they might get two books, 3 outfits, or two tractors they want. However I stick to a theme.

Speaking of gifts, all of mine are bought on Cyber Monday and I don't think that will ever change. I usually have a few odds and ends (teacher, babysitter, alcohol gifts) to pick up but nothing I have to battle crowds for or arm wrestle over. 

Finally my favorite Christmas Tradition of all.... snuggling up as a family with our hot chocolate and bowl of popcorn to watch all the Christmas movies we can fit into a day.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Ornament Link Up

Ok- I know this is a little late but I have my reasons. 

1- I joined a Blogger Ornament Swap and was to do a link up on the 20th (or after) and show off my new ornament. Guess what? I mailed my ornament to my blogger friend in Minnesota BUT the person that had me never contacted me nor did they send me my ornament. I contacted the lady that started the swap and asked if it was ok that I blogged about the ornaments I make every year if I don't recieve an ornament. She was ok with that.

2- The holiday season is/was super busy for us and every time I thought about blogging about my ornaments I was either lying in bed or driving down the road. Well, it just so happened that last night I was taking the tree down and had to touch every one of those ornaments. I figured it was a good time to capture them individually for today's post. 

Those are my reasons for this post being delayed. Now- I started making ornaments in 1999 when I moved out on my own. I was actually forced to make them. The tradition on my mom's side of the family was if you are a woman that lives on her own you are to bring a homemade ornament to the family Christmas to exchange with the other adult women. So, I started by making 7 ornaments in 1999. The first year I had my grandpa help me cut candy canes out of wood so I could paint them. 

In 2000 (year 2) I found a foam elf ornament in a magazine and thought I would give it a try. I hated it. I could only find the foam with the sticky back and it was just a mess. I dislike the ornament so much it sits in my "retired, but to many memories or sentiment to get rid of" ornament box. 

By 2001 my Christmas decor was basically all snowmen, this may have been the year I fell in love with the cute little round guys. I decided I was going to make a snowman out of a vegetable can. I used my edge-less can opener on all my cans when I cooked and I just kept collecting the whole can, lid and all. When it came time for me to make the ornaments I had well over 60 cans so I decided to give them away as gifts to the people I worked with, my family on my dad's side, and my neighbors. I gathered my white spray paint, black, orange and white paint pen and some pink paint for the blush and got to work painting them. Once they were completed I decided they needed a scarf and something to hang with. I pulled twine through the hole I punched at the top of the can and then tore some Christmas material to make the scarf. They turned out super cute and and were easy to make. From 2001 on I decided I was going to only make snowman ornaments and I would try my hardest to make them out of recycled material. Some of the materials have evolved like I no longer use pink paint for blush, I actually use blush. There have been times that I just bought a snowman ornament kit because I didn't put a lot of thought into what recycled material I was going to use that year. But I have kept to making snowmen every year since 2001 with the exception of 2012, I was going to make the ornaments out of a used shot gun shell, but after the school shooting in Pennsylvania I decided that wasn't a good idea and took a year brake from ornament making. At one point I was up to making over 80 ornaments at one time. The best part about making these little ornaments is that no one is the same, they all have a different face, one just as cute as the next.

Here are all the ornaments I was able to keep for myself, others I had to give them all away so I didn't get to keep one. If you are a family member that is reading this and have any that are not shown here please send me a picture of it. 

These two guys are the only kits I ever 

used. They turned out kinda cute.

You can go to your local bar like I did

and get a million of these.

It took about 5 years to collect all the bulbs.

The foam ball isn't recycled but still one of my favorites.

This is this years. It's not out of recycled like I wanted

but he is still cute. 

Here is a list of the recycled materials I have made snowmen out of:
veggie can (2001)
lid to veggie can (2003)
burnt out light bulbs (2009)
baby food jars (2007)
spoons (2004)
butter knives (2005)
mason jar lids (2013)
bottle caps (2012)
smashed soda cans (2011)

I hope you enjoyed reading about my ornaments and seeing the finished product. Any ideas on what to use next year?

Wonderful Weekend Holiday Edition

Tuesday I had to work a half day and then I met up with the rest of my family at my dads house for his Christmas then later that afternoon we headed to my Grandma Vasquez's for Christmas with my Aunts/Uncles/Cousins/ and some. Then Wednesday we spend the day with Tim's mom and her family before having to take C to his dad and stopping off at Tim's cousin (on his dad's) side to see them for a few hours. Christmas wears us out and I was thankful to be off work on Thursday, where C was with his dad all day and O and I spent the day sleeping. It was nice.

Once again we had another exhausting weekend with zero down time. Friday I got a call from the sitter saying C has a 101.7 fever so my awesome boss let me off to take care of my kiddos. In doing so we all three went to the doctor to be seen.  O and I were already all congested and breathing funny, which is exactly how C was the weeks before. C had a flu test and came back positive so O and I were put on a cocktail of meds and C was given Tamaflu and told to stay in bed until he feels better. Friday consisted of making C comfortable, making sure O didn't get sick and sanitizing my house. Doing this all while feeling like crap yourself is the most exhausting part. I don't remember anything else about this evening, I don't remember when I finally got to bed, or what I did while C was snoozing away. 

Saturday O was up early so Tim let me sleep in, it was nice because I woke feeling queezy. Once I finally woke I started getting ready for Christmas with my mom's family and then later with my mom and brothers. I was torn on what to do with C but as he was still sleeping I decided it was best Tim stay home with him while O and I visited with my mom's side. My Aunt and Uncle from Mississippi and Potosi, MO were home, it was excited to visit with them because we don't get to see them that often. Before leaving Tim texted and said that C was upset because he wanted to see his Uncle Ramy and wanted to come to his house for Christmas with my mom and brothers. Then he said that C woke at 1p asking for pizza and feeling better. I asked my brothers if they minded C being there and once I got the ok Tim and C were headed our way. We only missed my brother Bryan who left a few short days before this celebration, we missed him. It was nice to just hang out with my brothers and visit, I think it should be done more. We got home late and all tucked in for the night. 

Sunday Tim and O let me sleep in once again and it felt nice. I finally got up at 9:30, C was still sleeping and and when I went down to see with Tim and O were doing they were sawing logs. I let them sleep and got things ready for our final Christmas celebration. Once C and I were ready we woke Tim and O up and got them going. We headed to Tim's parents for the day. It started out with Tim's Grandpa coming over and getting pictures and proceeded on with making an awesome seafood dinner, then present opening, cookie baking and a lot of visiting. It was a good day and a great celebration to end our Christmas's. Once we got home we straightened up, it's nice to get life back in order, and finished the night playing Lego's with C in his room. 

How many Family Christmas Parties did you attend? What did you do this weekend? Have any plans for the New Year?

** sorry for lack of pictures this weekend. sick kid equals mom not in the mood for pic taking. 

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

All the Christmas cards are mailed, presents are wrapped, well minus the lego table Tim is making C, and tonight I am going to finish up my teacher's gifts and ornaments. This weekend I am making my baked goods and I will be completely ready for Christmas. I am ready for Christmas this year. I am ready to watch the kids enjoy their gifts, I am ready to see the parents as they received their surprises and I am ready to see all our family and get to sit and enjoy their company. I seriously can't wait.

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Seven-plus years ago this was NOT my demeanor towards Christmas. Seven-plus years ago I hated Christmas and everything associated with it. I didn't see the joy in decorating a house that only you were going to see, or making cookies that weren't going to all get ate anyway, or stressing about what you were going to get other people only to not get anything in return, the going here-there and every where only to return home exhausted, and finally the Christmas music starting the day after Halloween got under my skin like no other. I was seriously a Grinch, but since I have had C my love for Christmas had grown. I guess you can say I am a little like the Grinch, I finally realized that Christmas wasn't always about the decorations and gifts, my small heart has since grown three sizes. Now I love having the tradition of setting up the tree and finding special places to put the snowmen. I love trying to find the perfect presents for my boys only to see their faces when they open the presents. I like baking and giving them away as gifts. I am no longer looking at this holiday in a selfish point of view. Thanksgiving will always be my favorite holiday hands down, but Christmas brings some pretty fun traditions and memories and I am happy to share them with my family. I have realized it is all about the giving and sharing and I have come to see I would haven't have it any other way. 

If you aren't in the Christmas spirit yet then maybe you should listen to this song, it is my new favorite. 

Year 2 of Our Valentine Traditions and Surprises.....

I know I said that I was going to talk about the headband thing but I am going to do that tomorrow. Today I want to know how everyone spend their Valentines and whether or not you purchased or made your presents for your Valentine?

Our Valentine's Day (evening) was spent at my house. It's a tradition Tim and I started last year and we wouldn't have it any other way. Monday evening I baked the Red Velvet Cupcakes for dessert, I washed the Valentine dishes and set the table and got the presents put together and wrapped. Our menu consisted of Shrimp Alfredo (from scratch, well the sauce anyway), Caesar Salad, Garlic & Cheese Bread (in the shape of a heart), Strawberry Wine (Cran-Apple Juice for Carter) and as mentioned above the Red Velvet Cupcakes but I also got them Wedding Cake Ice Cream for dessert. The boys LOVED the food... all of it. After I got everything cleaned up it was time for presents.

Knowing Carter isn't at that stage where he can appreciate the homemade Valentine's or understand the work put into it we decided it would be easier to just purchase his gift. His love right now is playing Lego's and the card game War, so we bought him a Lego set and a deck of cards. I think he loved the cards more then the Lego's, the poor Lego's got pushed to the side, he was most excited that he has his own War Cards.

I try to keep it simple when it comes to Tim's gift for two reasons. The first is because we try to keep the day simple and the second is because Christmas is in December, his Birthday is the end of January and then Valentine's Day, I would be broke if I bought big things for him, so Valentines Day... Keepin' it as simple as possible. Tim loves snacks so I purchased a bunch of snack food and I put love notes on them, for example I got him a 6 pk of soda and I put a note them them that said "You are "SODA" a big deal". Corney, yes I know, but isn't that what the holiday is about, corkey love sayings. I also make him a plate of cookies, they too have a funny sayings on them but they are more personalized to our relationship.

The top cookie says "I love you more than...." and the bottom 8 cookies said: "you love me", "I love my phone", "fish love water", "farmers love tractors", "Panda's love bamboo", "I loves Grey's Anatomy", and "you love Ax Men". Tim loved all his presents as well... I think he was just happy to have snacks at my house for once, well other then the normal Carter's lunch snacks.

Tim got me the flowers and my brother sent me the picture of B, be still my heart!

Now I can't forget the teacher gift. I had a few unused fish bowls, intended for craft projects, in a box with some jars at Tim's house. This past week when I was washing all the jars for the wedding, I also pulled some of the bowls out to use for the wedding, and had the idea that I should use one for Carter's teacher. SO, I cleaned up the fish bowl, purchased bulk Swedish Fish, some aqua color tissue paper and pink ribbon. I poured the fish in the clean bowl, put the blue tissue paper on top of the fish, tied the ribbon right under the rim of the bowl and attached a tag I make especially for this project that says "You are o"FISH"ally the best Teacher!" It turned out super cute. Carter said she loved it, actually he got a thank you and I think she figured out where I got the idea...lol.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Valentine Tradition and Pinterest Finds...

Valentine's has gotten to commercialized to begin with so we are going to keep this holiday simple. Last year Tim and I decided to start a Valentine tradition. The tradition, we will make our own romantic dinner at home, pull out all the stops, use the nice stuff and go all out on the dinner. We mutually dislike crowds and we really don't like waiting to be seated at a restaurant and this year we are attempting to save money so our decision to make this a tradition was easy. Last years dinner consisted of steak, this amazing green bean new potato recipe, rice, heart shaped biscuits, wine (juice for the little one) and an amazing dessert. This year's dinner is still being contemplated by the the boys and I but I am sure what ever we decide is going to be delish as usual. 

As far as gifts we try to keep it simple as well. Last year I made Tim a 100 reasons why I Love You box. I had an old cigar box and put all 100 reason in it. I didn't decorate the box because I didn't want to draw attention to the box and have people snooping in it to see what was inside, he lived with his brother at the time and there were always visitors so you never knew. I also made him a resume, a what? I made him a resume to be his wife. I seen it online and thought it was cute so I went with it, I provided a cover letter, printed it on resume paper and all. I think that was his favorite gift, he still has it any way.

This year I am looking for more creative but cheap ways to show my love and here is what I found on pinterest. As soon as I decide which I will do I will document it and share but here are the choices I have narrowed it down to. 

For Carter's Teacher I am planning on doing a version of this..... found over at Creative Treasures

My plan is to use a fish bowl. I found I had a few (10) in storage 

so I washed one up and plan on using it in some fashion. 

I am going to either use this exact "Smartie" version 

or fill it with Sharpies and put..

"Because of you I'm a real Sharpie"

For Tim I may need some DIY ideas but this is what I have so far....

From Looking for Rainbows in the Moon Light I have found...

Love the sayings on the bottom cookies...

From The Dating Divas...

I thought I would make a snack basket for him and put these sayings

on all the snacks/drinks... cute right? or just Cheesy?

From PaperVine.....

Cute but along the same lines of that box I did last year, right?

That is all I got. Now for Carter I usually just get him a Valentine stuffed animal that never makes it very long in our house SO I think this year  I will just spend about $5 on a mini lego set and call it a day. Any ideas for a DIY gift I can make for the love of my life?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! {2011 Faves & 2012 Expectations}

I would like to start by saying WHERE DID THIS YEAR GO? My mom always told me that the older I got the faster time would pass and I come to find she was not lying. My son will be 6 in about 6 months, I am getting married in 7 months and I have been out of New Athens for 7 months. It seems that every time I blink an eye it is the new year and I try to remember what the previous year brought me.

MEMORIES MADE IN 2011:

 

The times the three of us spent together fishing. Carter caught on in the end

and we all enjoyed spending this time together. Tim and I let Carter

fish with a hook for the first time this year. He actually caught a big

one with his little batman pole and he was so excited.

Pool season. We didn't have any luck with pools this year. We attempted to put the one 

up from last year to only discover there were about 5 mouse holes chewed through

the liner and tube. SO Tim goes and buys a new one, puts it up, only for it to 

be un-level and unsafe. SO Tim drains the water and fixes it, it still wasn't perfect but 

better, we used it and swam until Labor Day.

I remodeled and sold my house in New Athens and  moved to Waterloo area. It has been 7 months and I love it. I enjoy having a place that is just mine but I can't wait to start my life with Tim and make a place ours.

Our camping/boating trips with the Vasquez Family. They are always a good time.

On one trip Tim lost one of my Aunts towels in the river (when he was suppose to be 

disposing of a fish on board), made another Aunt mad because he wouldn't

dance with her (she is still upset about that and he now has to pay to dance with

 her at our wedding) and got wasted with an Uncle (they like to ask strangers which 

one is older). Carter went tubing for the first time with

Uncle Eric and HATED it. He enjoyed playing in the water but hated being pulled

 behind the boat. I just got burnt and decided the swim suit I wore this year was NOT for me and am retiring it (please Aunt Judy lose those pictures).

Tim, Carter and I had our first professional 

(and defiantly not last) "family" pictures taken. 

My baby turned 5 and started Kindergarten. 

It is a great time for him but a sad time for this 

mom, I don't want him to grow up. 

I started blogging. I love it. You can express how you feel about things, 

share crafts, recipes and little tid bits about yourself. I have made

many new friends from all over through my blog and I am thankful 

for all they have shared and their friendships. 

My niece Baleyn was born. She is so stinkn' cute. I always try to 

steal her first when she shows up to those family functions, and I usually get her. 

Tim and I spend shotgun season together in the deer stands for the second year in a row. 

The first season I seen a giant but couldn't get a shot and that was about the last chance I had

 at getting anything that weekend. Tim on the other hand got a nice 10 pt. buck on opening day.

Second Season was a little more rewarding, although I didn't get a deer I did get engaged. 

Tim asked me the Sunday of Second Season to marry him while we were sitting in the stand.

I was shocked, surprised and excited. 

My mom turned 50. Yep, she is a  young one. We had a surprise party for her

at a local winery. My brother Bryan from Minnesota, Aunt Barb from Mississippi,

and Aunt Regena and Uncle Jeff from Potosi, Missouri all came home for it. 

They were all a big surprise for her and to top it off my Grandpa, who

has been recovering from open heart surgery showed up. 

2011 was a great year!

THINGS TO COME IN 2012:

Carter turns 6 and starts First Grade. 

The first 7 months of 2012 will have Tim and I consumed with 

planning a wedding. This is exciting and nerve racking for sure. 

I will be marrying my best friend 8/25/2012. I can't wait to start our life together.

I will move for the third time in my life at the end of August. 

We have about 4 or 5 friends that are expecting at the beginning of the year and 

we can't wait to meet all the new little ones. 

I would like to get back on the running horse. I have fallen off over the holiday

season and I really need to jump back on. I can just feel the fat layering 

back on my stomach and back side. 

I want to run at lease 5 more 5K runs before the end of 2012. I don't think that is a

huge goal. I plan on one a month once I really feel comfortable with running but until then

I will set the goal of 5 for 2012.

Start being more frugal, not to an extreme, but enough to be able to save more
money to make our nest egg bigger and maybe someday (in the near future)
be able to build a house. 

I am going to try to "go green" this year. I am not saying I am eliminating all 

unnecessary waste but I am going to attempt to recycle and reuse. 

We will be sprucing up Tim's house getting it ready for Carter and I to move into after the 

wedding... we have to make it look less like a man cave and more like a family home.

(deer heads stay, deer paneling probably NOT)

There will be many more camping, wedding, family, friends, new babies

 and work memories made this year as well. I am 

expecting from 2012 are to make more great memories, to start a life with 

Tim and start that new road at Mrs. Tim Keller (ah, kinda weird, I love it).

What are your favorite memories from the year 2011? 

What things will you be looking forward to 

and expecting from this coming 2012?

How Will You Be Ringing In The New Year?

In years past I have spent New Years alone, bartending, at a bar with friends and even once in bed before midnight. This year we are going to a Christmas/ New Years Party at a friends house. We are getting older and feel there isn't a need to hang out in a bar to ring in a new year. At this time a few of our friends are pregnant, it is more fun spending time with all our friends then just a few, so instead of going to a bar with half our friends we are going to gather at a house. We will play games, open gifts, gossip chit-chat and just enjoy each others company.  So, that is how I am going to ring in 2012.

Last year we spent New Years at Bobecks but were home a little before 1:00 a.m. I see this year being the same way..... but that is ok with me. 

How are you ringing in 2012?

The Best Christmas Presents Aren't Things....

So this Christmas there were physical things that I wanted, you know those things you wouldn't buy for yourself, but those weren't the things that I REALLY wanted. It are the small things that have made this Christmas the best Christmas in a very long time. I have wonderful bosses and parents that have given to me way more then they needed too. I have friends and other family members that have gone our of their way to spread the Christmas spirit as well BUT it was the small things that meant the most this year. Those times or things that just happened upon surprise that meant the most, so I share with you the three things that made my Christmas. 

My brother Bryan and his friend came home from Minnesota. I only get to see him maybe once a year and that is it. This past year things have been a little tight for them and they weren't planning on coming home. They surprised us. They got in late Thursday night/Friday morning by driving 9 hours. I think that alone is the best present anyone can ask for. I miss him and it's always good to see him.

Bryan has always loved to sleep. I can't explain 

how many pictures we have of him through the years

sleeping the the strangest places. Oh and a warning 

to you all... don't fall asleep around my family! lol

My dad and bonus mom haven't made it to very many of the Vasquez holidays in the past couple of years and I was praying that they would make it this year. We were at their house all day on Saturday and it wasn't until I was leaving that they said they would see us at Grandma's. I was so excited to get to see them there. It was nice having the whole Vasquez clan there. What I mean by the "whole Vasquez clan" is that there are families that alternate years and this year every family member was able to make it. It was a fun time and there were many great memories made.

This is my big crazy Vasquez-Baker family. Next Year Tim will be added.

There is one more thing that made my Christmas. It was actually a physical gift, not one I asked for but has a lot of meaning in it. Tim's dad put a lot of thought into this gift and when I opened it it had a few people crying so I am going to share it with you. Bob wrote me a poem:

Christi:

Tim was hoping for you a buck, but alas you didn't have any luck

he wanted you to find an engagement ring upon its tine. 

This small buck I give you here will have to do until next year. 

So, we give you this pair of deer to welcome you into our family here.

Love,

Bob and Linda

The deer that were wrapped with the poem. Thanks Bob,

I am excited to be a part of your family.

See, it's the small things that make my day(s). Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and thank each and every person that gave me all those wonderful gifts. I love all of them and they were the added bonus to my holiday but the three things that I will always remember about Christmas 2011 were the above three. I hope everyone got what they asked for and had a Merry Christmas.