Christmas Time

For Christmas, Mom, Dad, Amy, Mike, Greg and I piled in Mom and Dad's van to set off for Idaho. It was going to be my sister's first Christmas without her girls so we couldn't just leave her alone on Christmas, now could we? I was surprised how well the drive went- granted I didn't have to drive at all. Even so, it passed quickly and pleasantly enough. Well, I was pretty bad and hardly took any pictures. For Greg and I both, the best part was spending time with Gracie, Anna and Aliese. We love those girls! To me, they are beautiful angels! Gracie is still young and loves to play. She is the cutest thing ever. Greg taught Anna how to waltz. They were so cute to watch. Aliese is maturing so fast. She's no longer a little girl! I couldn't believe that she wanted skin care products and bedding for Christmas. She's crossed the line and her teen years are straight ahead. It was so fun just to dance, talk and hang out with them. We love them so much!

Christmas Eve had some unexpected events. Danielle and I drove to Walmart to pick up a few things and the POWER WENT OUT!!!! We were standing in an isle and suddenly you hear this quiet whoom. And the lights go out and then it's suddenly silent. Then you hear all the voices reacting to what just happened. All the registers were out, except 2, and luckily Dan and I made it out in fairly good time. It was nuts. There were so many people there. Of all days, I felt really bad for whoever was managing there. We drove home to find Danielle's home out of power, as well, and the turkey was already in the oven!!!! So it was taken out and moved to Rebecca's house, because she had power. So Rebecca and I went over there to make rolls, mashed potatoes and fudge. It was great just being alone with her. I like one on one time. Thankfully the power eventually came back on and we were able to have Christmas Eve dinner at Danielle's, as planned.

Christmas Eve was full of Arnold tradition. We started out with a very traditional feast- turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls- and what Arnold could leave out the sweet potatoes smothered in butter, brown sugar and pecans? On to getting comfy on the couches and reading of Christ's birth from the Bible. Since we had children there with us, we acted out the whole thing. I was an angel who announced Christ's birth to the shepherds. Gracie was Mary and it was the sweetest thing. I loved to see her rock baby Jesus in her arms, smiling. After that we opened presents. Danielle and Clay had Greg and I and Danielle MADE us aprons!!!

She did an AMAZING job. She is an incredible seamstress. Real quality work. And they totally match our kitchen that is full of RED everything!!! After presents we got out homemade caramels, peanut butter balls, cookies, chocolate pies and almond roca. These are present at every Arnold Christmas, without fail. We finished the night with a Christmas movie, Christmas Story. It was quite the family film and I LOVED IT!!! It was about an orphan boy somewhere in Finland and how he became Santa Clause. I'm pretty sure I cried, or almost did. I loved it.

All the girls and Greg made gingerbread houses. This is Greg and Aliese.

This is Gracie with her American Girl Doll. Amy made their matching outfits.

I was more pumped than ever to give my parents their gifts this year. I hate picking out gifts and know I'm not very good at it, but this year was different. My Mom is a little obsessed with santa decor, so I bought one for her while I was in Germany, last Christmas. I wanted to get her a "european" santa. As for my Dad, he loves to listen, watch and read about WW2 and while we were in Bastogne, Belgium we were able to get American bullets that were found on the battlegrounds of The Battle of the Bulge. Really exciting! He was happy to have them.

The day of Christmas we went to see this house that would light up in rhythm with Christmas music! They played select songs on a radio station so we parked in front, listened and watched and it was so much fun! We loved it!