Christmas Party!

We went to several Christmas parties this year, but my favorite one was the Ward party at our church.  I swore off mall Santas several years ago after deciding it's not worth waiting in line for 2-1/2 hours with cranky kids, only to find, when we finally get our turn, that they gouge you on the picture prices, and Santa doesn't really have time to listen to what your kids want for Christmas (why else would they have waited so long to talk to you?  Do you think THEY care about the pictures??).  They just snap the picture and herd them through as fast as possible.  No, thank you!

It may be less formal, but I sure do enjoy the atmosphere of the "church Santa" so much more than the mall version.  It is WAY more memorable for my kids, and I am allowed to stand close enough to hear what they are asking Santa for.....(Just because I like to know).  Plus, I always know who's lap my kids are really sitting on, and that's a comfort to me!

Aren't they cute?  Another great thing about the church party this year is that Tom cooked all the food, and he did such a great job!  We had pork loin and roasted baby red potatoes, along with a yummy veggie medley, salad, and freshly baked rolls (Those were ordered in).  Everyone raved about the food.  It made me so proud of him.  He's still got it!

I didn't get a very good picture of Mikey this time, so I'm hoping my friend Dani got a better one, since she was taking pictures of all the kids on Santa's lap that night.  If she did, I'll try to update this.  Danny sat on Santa's lap, but didn't want me to take a picture of it, so I can't post it.  Teenagers are strange that way, aren't they?  Not too old to sit with Santa, but too old for anybody to have proof of it!!

Thanksgiving in Long Beach, WA

So we went to Long Beach this year for a week over Thanksgiving.  The weather was beautiful, if chilly, and we had a unit facing the beach and boardwalk, so we had a beautiful view from every room of the condo.

We didn't get to explore too much of the great outdoors, but we did get to spend 6 hours in the ER at Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco one day because baby C was pretty sick and we were very worried about him.  The ER Dr. said he had a cold and sent us on our way.  We found out a few days later (when we got home and took him to his regular Dr.) that he had RSV and we spent 3 days in the hospital observing him until he started to get better.  It was scary!

So we spent a lot of time indoors, but Tom and I did manage to get away a couple of times to go Christmas shopping in Oregon (tax free!)  Thanks to our family who watched our 5 kids for us so we could do that!  It was nice to be with Tom's parents, and his 2 sisters and their families over the holiday.  We played a lot of games, and watched a lot of movies, and most of the kids went swimming everyday, except the ones that were too sick (we all ended up sick before all was said and done).

In the end, we had a nice time, and we remembered to be thankful for our blessings, which is the most important part, and it was nice to hang out without schedules and meetings, and everyday responsibilities for a change!