Ok Torm. ;)

The update:

Christmas.
It was fabulous. I decided this year to be more of a participant and less of a photographer. This means fewer photos, but still tons of memories. Breakfast was at our house - Rick's parents, my parents, Liane, Carl, and of course all of us. Homemade Belgian waffles with strawberry compote, fresh blackberries and raspberries, and whipped cream, champagne and orange juice, and lots of sausage :). After breakfast we read the Bible story of the birth of Jesus and put him in the manger. Then it was FINALLY time to open presents. Our family has the tradition of opening them one by one. Although it does end up taking forever, I love that we all get to see what everyone gets.

Despite our attempt at scaling down Christmas, the kids got tons of stuff. Here's the rundown:

Coolest gifts:
RILEY - the Lighting Up Light Saber from Auntie Liane! He showed off all his Jedi skills right away!
VIOLET - Moon Sand from Auntie Liane! Awesome stuff. She had been talking about it and begging for it for months.

Most Thoughtful Gifts:
Both Kids: Jim & Val sent them an email - on behalf of the children, two goats were purchased for families in Africa. The goats will provide milk for the family to drink and make cheese and stuff to sell at the market. A practical way to share the love of Jesus with others! The kids each have a little goat toy I found to remember to pray for their goat families every night. And they do. It is so sweet.

Most Appropriate Gifts:
Riley - Music! He got a keyboard from Papa & Mamalali and a set of handheld musical instruments from Tinty and Luke! He immediately started composing. :)
Violet - Her journal kit from Tinty and Luke! She opened it up, sharpened the pencil, and immediately wrote her first journal entry: "I wanted a scooter and I got one from Papa and Mamalali!" I'd say her Razor scooter was a close second in this category.

Best, most favorite surprises ever:
Christmas morning the kids were having a great time opening gifts. Riley kept running upstairs to put his stuff in his room, which was making us nuts. We wanted them to stay downstairs with the family. Plus there were still tons of presents to open!! So Rick went up there and shooed him downstairs. Sure enough, though, about 20 minutes later he was upstairs again. Only this time - this time he came running downstairs, yelling, "VIOLET!! VIOLET!!! COME UP HERE!!! THERE IS A NEW BIKE IN MY ROOM!!!! COME SEEEEEE!!!"
And sure enough, there in the middle of his bedroom was a brand new bike! We coule hear Violet squeal and then say, "Ooooh!!! Let's check MY room too!" followed seconds later by "ME TOOOOO!!!! THERE'S ONE IN MY ROOM TOOOOOO!!!" and we all went upstairs to see the incredible surprises. There, in both kids' rooms, were new bikes. We have NO IDEA how they got in there! Everyone was downstairs all morning and we definitely didn't see anyone try and bring a bike up there, let alone TWO! It *must* have been Santa! He is the only one with magic that can do that. This Christmas will always be remembered for that incredible surprise. And let me tell you, that was the coolest, most magical moment we've experienced with the kids. Unadulterated joy and wonder. Can't beat that ;)

The family party continued that afternoon at my aunt Tish's house...
Memories from there include:
Leslie falling into the tree. HAHAHAHAHA
Grandma not wearing her hearing aid and everyone having to YELL stuff to her... and she *still* didn't know what we were saying.
Gluhwein. I made it myself. It's just not Christmas if I am not sipping a cup!
Me finally sitting at the grownup table. ;)
Liane sitting next to me at the table and us trying to gross easch other out.
Hans falling asleep at the table! HAHAHAHA
Rick getting "The Player" watch he always wanted!
Me getting awesome new stainless steel cookware! WOOHOO!
Did I mention that I am now in the John Hardy club? Yesssssssssss
Carl videotaping everything.
Lorraine's cheesecake.
Heather coming by to visit - and donating to a very special foundation as a gift to my parents. FINALLY SOMEONE MADE MOM CRY THIS YEAR!! I think even Dad got teary eyed, which means Heather really won. ;)
Rick falling asleep on the floor and everyone pelting him with wrapping paper balls while Carl videotaped. HAHAHA

New Year's Eve
PARTY AT THE BALDWINS!! Once again, I was a participant, not a photographer. I kind of enjoyed that! Lots of friends came over - Leslie and Cheryl watched the kids while the grownups played games and drank and had loads of fun & merriment. We drank some awesome Chandon champagne that was a gift from my parents, and stayed up way too late playing things like Mexican Train, Taboo, pool, and Boggle. :) Leslie, Cheryl, Liane, and Carl stayed the night - and the next morning we had Christmas Breakfast Part Deux - waffles, sausage, champagne, and orange juice. I love having a house that can host big, fabulous parties like that!

And now... it's Wedding Week.
Liane and Carl get married on Saturday.
I am the matron of honor. Violet is the flower girl. Riley is the Ring Bearer (he calls himself the Ring Master! lol). Loads of prep work to be done - such as the Very Special Shower that Melinda and I hosted for Liane on Monday night.

The theme was "Member Night" - you know the kind of Member I am referring to. Beef Stick. Piece of Pork. One Eyed Snake. Yep. That one. We had cherries. Yep. Peenie pasta. Of course the infamous cake (let me just recommend that even with Google's "moderate safe search" you should never look for instructions for how to make one of these cakes online). I decided to wing it - and ended up making it with 3 muffin cups (larger than cupcake cups) and an 8 inch round cake. Two cups were the balls and the third was the head. I formed the "shaft" by cutting a column out of the center of the round cake. We frosted it with a nice, fleshy color of frosting and added chocolate sprinkles to the balls as the piece de resistance. hehe! I used the top and bottom of the round cake to make a separate cake, a pair of lips, that was our decoy for Liane. She really was looking forward to her scandalous cake and we told her that it didn't make it thought baking, and all we could salvage was enough to make the lips. Little did she know that we had it all wrapped up for her to open like a present. Of course, I made sure Liane's came in a pink box. OH YES I DID!!!! It was all sorts of silliness and innuendo and loads of fun. We played Dirty Minds, gave her a collection of "Sex for Dummies" books, and of course her own collection of scandalous lingerie. Yep. She's ready to get married now ;)

Today I have been working on the programs for the wedding - they ended up looking awesome! WOOHOO!! Tomorrow I will be getting the house cleaned, and then the weekend of partying begins! Of course it's supposed to snow on Friday and Friday's expected high is 40 degrees... so the anticipated outdoor wedding may have to be moved inside... nothing like the unexpected surprises to keep us on our toes!!!