Holi-Daze 2009

We really did have a very nice Christmas week, even though it was not without its snags.

Last Saturday we attended the local light parade and although very small, the kids got a kick out of the festively decorated "floats" and free candy canes from Santa.

It was a nice prelude to our annual trek to the Wild Lights at the Living Desert where they deck the entire zoo out in over 350,000 Christmas lights, have the miniature train running, carolers, hot coco and bonfires - a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. Tuesday the whole family got in the spirit as Joe and the kids baked chocolate chip, oatmeal and sugar cookies to share while the kids helped me make soup in a jar gifts and decorated ceramic tiles, which we made into coaster sets for the grandparents.

On Wednesday we journeyed to Joe's parents to celebrate Christmas with the extended Funny Noses and enjoyed good food, good company and the kids gift exchange. However, it was during that evening that the memory card in my new camera malfunctioned and I lost all my pictures from the Wild Lights and that night, including the family photos we had taken by the tree and a photo shoot with all 8 great-grandchildren. I was very disappointed and frustrated. Here are the few pictures I was able to get with my old camera.

Here is Jake excited after receiving his color shifter color blaster track:

And Jadyn with her baby panda (which was really cute, as she was wearing her panda outfit to match). She also received an easy bake oven and when she opened it she exclaimed, "It's just what a wanted. A maker!"

The kids and I cuddling at the end of the night. Opening gifts and playing with their cousins makes them very tired:

It was during this time that Utah developed some diarrhea (sorry for the TMI) and even worse, he was too weak or in too much pain to get up and take care of business outside. Not a good sign. So Thursday I took him to the vet and after a quick exam and x-rays it would appear he may have a mass in his abdominal region. He was put on a trial of medication to see if we could stop the diarrhea but we have been warned that it may become a quality of life issue, which is what we feared.

Back at home, our family prepared to do something a little different for Christmas Eve as we welcomed company into our home instead of traveling to family. Scottie and Ali along with my Mom and her husband George came over for yet another wonderful evening of food, company and gift exchanging. We attempted to take more family pictures, but this was the best we got:


Along with this one of the kids:


And this one of Jadyn and I:

We ended the evening with the tradition of watching the Polar Express, opening up new PJs from Mom and Dad, sprinkling reindeer food in the yard, setting out sugar cookies and chocolate milk for Santa and quickly checking for the big guy's whereabouts on Norad's Santa tracker before heading to bed. Once the kids were finally asleep, Santa paid his visit and this is what was waiting for them in the morning:

But I can see this post is already ridiculously long so our Christmas Day tale will have to wait for another post..........