Joe arrived in Clinton in the wee hours of Christmas Eve after working until midnight. He was very sweet and stayed up to have coffee with Grandma and me before I went to work. We had a nice visit. Mark, Tom and Lenny arrived in Clinton around noon on Christmas Eve, and we all enjoyed a delicious ham meal for lunch.
Ron and I went to Christmas Eve services at church where I played the organ for the service. After church, we went to the Siegers for dessert and custard and then by Grandma's for a short visit with the St. Louis Mintuns before bedtime.
On Christmas morning, Amanda and family arrived and found what Santa had left in their stockings. Grandma, Mark, Joe and Tom arrived shortly after 11 a.m., and we changed things up a bit this year and had "snackie" type foods and grazed all day instead of a Christmas dinner. Cowboy pig candy seemed to be popular along with the meatballs and cocktail weenies wrapped in bacon. Peyton and Garrison decorated the birthday cake for Jesus after their arrived (hope Jesus likes sprinkles), and they blew out the candles as we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. We had a fun gift exchange and enjoyed the day visiting. The kids attacked Uncle Mark with their "Hulk Hands"!
After Garrison's nap, we had our immediate family gift exchange. Peyton was stunned that her Momma received an American Girl Doll - Emily! Mommy let Peyton play with her, so all is well.
A highlight was that Peyton and Garrison stayed in Clinton with Grammy and Grandpa for 3 nights - the parents went home! They enjoyed helping me take down the Christmas tree and gathering the ornaments off the tree. We played with their Christmas gifts, painted, went to McDonald's, played, went to the Holy Rosary playground (it was 50 degrees!), went to Grandma's for dinner one night and played there, played, and had so much fun! We baked cookies and Peyton and I made more Cowboy Pig Candy - she thought that was a hoot. 4 days and 3 nights went much too quickly. Peyton invited Grammaw for a sleepover on Friday night. Grammaw was basically with us the entire time which was great.
We took them back to Overland Park after Garrison's nap on Saturday. We enjoyed seeing all the gifts the kids had received and they enjoyed showing them to us and telling us about them! Chad, Amanda, the kids and us went to Will Jenny's for dinner and had a great time talking about our upcoming Disney World trip in January! Can't wait! Peyton loved telling me about the monorail coming up to our hotel to take us to the parks, about the bracelets, etc. She is pumped. I think she plans to stay in our room with us like she did at the Turks and Caicos Islands! We love having her for a roommate. Maybe Garrison can stay a night or two as well - up to his parents. He doesn't want to be left out! "I do it too - I help too". So precious. He is such a good sleeper and goes to bed and down for his nap with no complaints. Peyton and I slept together downstairs in Amanda and Chad's room so we could hear Garrison if needed us. He sleeps on his big boy bed - which he loves to say - in the main room. Grammaw slept in Peyton's room on the main level.
Mom spent Sunday at our house (12/29) and had lunch with us. It was nice to have her with us.
We are off work until 1/2 - probably won't want to go back to work! I think I could get used to not working.
As we celebrated the birth of Jesus and enjoyed family time, we realize how very blessed we are. Priceless memories!
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