I think Nate said it best when he said, "This year was the best Christmas ever!" It was a great Christmas in spite of the rain. Now we're about to ring in 2010. Time flies so quickly, it seems like last year that everyone was worried about the Y2K computer problems.
SILENT NIGHT. Jenna sang Silent Night as a solo at our Christmas Eve service at church. She did a great job. We were all really proud of her.
Jenna had been practicing this for a few weeks, and the funny thing about it all has been her practice location. She wanted to practice alone, but in our house that's not really possible so she'd been going outside to sing. Even out in the yard just any old spot wouldn't work -- it had to be private. It turns our her private spot is the large boxwood bush on the west side of the house. This bush is about twenty feet across and almost as tall as the house. If you push your way through there is an empty space in the middle which is perfect for a kid's hide out so all through December Jenna has been serenading our boxwood. Pauline happened to be out in her yard one day and heard singing but never could figure out where it came from. Now that Jenna's solo is behind her I wonder if the boxwood misses her?
CHRISTMAS. I think the biggest hits of Christmas this year were the Wii Sports Resort and Lego Indiana Jones games for the Wii. The kids have about worn those games out already. That's not to say that we've thrown the video game and them and left them alone. We've all had a blast playing Uno Spin together as well as one on one games like Mastermind and Rummikub. Jenna is at the age now where she is enjoying the clothes and shoes she got for Christmas more than anything else.
Vicki had told me she wanted a new vacuum cleaner for Christmas (which she did get), but as I in the store shopping I kept thinking, "A vacuum cleaner is no present to get your wife." So, I surprised here with a pair of new nightstands to replace the mismatched ones in our bedroom. Jenna and I slipped them into place as she was taking a shower Christmas morning and then simply waited for her to notice them. It took her four trips to the bedroom before they caught her eye.
As for me, I've had a blast watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy again (the extended versions of all three films).
We also enjoyed our traditional activities: dinner a Pauline's Christmas Even night, brunch at Mrs. Connie's Christmas Day, and upper at Aunt Mar's that night.
Tuesday evening we drove to Ashland City to enjoy more Christmas with the Dee and Bradley families. Amanda and Derek have added a new master bedroom to their house and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, neither Aunt Mar nor Pauline felt like going. All the cousins did have a great time though.
The Jones family is here for a visit this weekend so our kids are enjoying even more cousin time as we ring in the new year.
On that note, I’ll sign off by wishing everyone a happy new year!
Joe
