Our fun holiday

Christmas has come and gone. My Christmas letters still sit in their envelopes, addressed, picture in place, ready to go, minus the letter. Waiting for Danny to find the time to write it. I get tempted to do it, but that would be a disaster. I thought I would wait as long to update my blog, but couldn't hold out. I was sick of feeling guilty that I hadn't been on the computer, and I remembered that I had Christmas music on my playlist....motivation enough. We were able to go to Idaho to be with family for a few days. We stayed at the Reilly's. The fun started with a private showing of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" at grandma Reilly's. Movie tickets, hot dogs, popcorn, and candy made it a wonderful time for all.....I hope grandma felt the same. She had all 12 grandkids by herself. The girls said it was great. We went to my parents house on Christmas eve. Mom and dad ordered from Hong Kong. It was so good. Tyler and Mitch went to pick it up and came home looking like men from China. They got some felt mustaches and sick moles out of the quarter machine. The little kids were so scared. This was the first time all my family has been together since we got married 6 years ago. It was so nice to have everyone together. We had fun opening presents and remembering old times. Mom and dad have been remodeling their house. I guess I should say, dad and Matt have been doing it. It looks so good. They work so hard and it certainly shows, and definitely has paid off. It will be so nice when it is all done. We had a very nice Christmas eve. We talked of old times, ate good food, made food for the reindeer, and just enjoyed being together. Grandpa and grandma Landon came down to spend the evening with us. It was a very nice night. I love Christmas Eve and have very good memories of being at home. It was nice continue creating good memories. We headed back to Reilly's before Santa came. We got the plate of stuff ready for Santa and put the reindeer food out on the driveway. Santa did come and everyone was happy. The girls loved to open their things. We played with our new things and relaxed. Ryan and Kara and their families came over. We had a good dinner and opened presents. We always have fun together just sitting and talking. The kids are at a good age to all play together and they always have fun. It was a nice day. We then headed back out to my mom and dad's house. We opened more presents and all the kids played. They all sat and sang Christmas songs and had so much fun together. It is always fun to be together with our families. We went bowling with the Reilly's on Saturday morning. It doesn't get any better than good ol' Skyline lanes, and their grill. We kept the poor girl busy. We just had an open tab, thanks to grandpa, so I think almost everything on the menu was ordered, maybe even twice. Bowling was fun, even though it is not my sport. Looks like Niamh has taken after her dad and is good at it. He is good at everything. Bergin had so much fun. She got so excited after her turn. She would raise her hands in the air and cheer. After bowling we headed to the movies with my family. We had tried to go to "The Princess and the Frog" on Christmas Eve with my family, but it was sold out. We went on Saturday. We saved the whole top row. It was a cute movie. It was fun to all be there together. We headed home. Church responsibilities called us home. I love the Christmas season. There is more love in the air and a wonderful spirit of giving. I am thankful that we can celebrate the birth of the Savior. I am thankful for Him and His life. I am so blessed to know that He lives and because of that, my family is blessed. We spent New Year's with our good friends Benji and Krista and their kids. We had good food and just sat and enjoyed the night. We are hoping for a good new year. It is always nice to be home for the holidays. It is always hard to leave, which is one downfall of living away. It is only 2 hours though, it could be worse. We have wonderful families and we always have good times with them.