Pre-Christmas Parties

We had a long round of Holiday parties this year, with both sides of the family. We started with the Pollock party the Saturday before Christmas. When we drove up my Dad was loading up this sleigh and I jumped on with all my boys. Then we were a little suprised when he drove us all the way to Kathy & Lester Pearce's house and we all had to squish in the car to get home. It was pretty fun though & we sang carols down the street.

My Papa came down from Pima for the party and every living decendant of my grandparents was in attendance. It was full of good food as always, this year featuring my Aunt Susan's delicious soups, mom's rolls, and a plethora of other yummies. My mom had presents for all the kids (Transformers for our boys) and then banished them all downstairs to play while the adults had their gift exchange. This was the first year the Pollocks tried a white elephant exchange, and the gifts were supposed to be something that reminded you of the family, or Pima, or something. Aaron started out with a big camping/fishing stool, but ended up with one of the MANY camper/fisher/hunter in a bottle gifts that Susan brought. I ended up with the new shovel that Preston brought and tried his hardest to take home himself. And Susan got back the honey pot that she bought Papa for Christmas a few years ago that he has never used.

Aaron wasn't feeling well and went home after a few hours, but the boys and I stayed all afternoon to play with cousins. They play especially well with Preston & Melanie's boys: Bradley, Carter, and Jackson. We don't see them often now that they live in Florence and we sure miss them. Melanie is due in a couple months with their 4th boy.

Aaron was sick all weekend and ended up calling in sick to work Mon. & Tues. And since he had Wed. thru Fri. off for the holiday - that meant he was home for an entire week with us! He was a huge help with the boys and took them out for part of every day to let me get things done at home. And then he stayed home with them so I could finish shopping and go to the gym a few times. I signed up for a 30 day free pass at Pure Fitness (the old Goldens) and Aaron is joining too. We are determined to get in shape next year.

We also want to be better at writing thank you notes this year, so Sunday morning they boys made awesome Transformer cards and we took them to my parents before church. Aaron was home sick & kept the baby but Alden & Emmett looked so handsome in their blazers and we took these pictures. We ended up staying at my parents for pancakes too and still made it to church only a few minutes late.

The Carpenter family party was on Monday night and we ate shrimp cocktail, soups in breadbowls, and Aunt Bev's jello knox blocks. We had the traditional white elephant exchange, separated for the kids and adults. Alden got a coloring book & crayons, Emmett got a talking Elmo, Aaron stole one of Candice's homemade tote bags and gave it to me, and I got a container of Ghiradelli baking chocolate - we had a great year! It's always fun to see all the Carpenter cousins. Bob & CJ's condo is a bit crowded, but they are in the process of buying a new house here in Mesa. We were supposed to have the adult fondue party Tuesday night, but it was cancelled because CJ was not feeling well. I guess you don't feel like hosting dozens of people just days after you get out of the hospital where you received multiple blood transfusions. Go figure. We are sure hoping that the doctors can find out what's wrong with her soon.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents for the Blasnek party, where we were again fed very well. It was really nice to spend a little time with my Gramma Blasnek and Aunt Cheryl - I wish we saw them more often. (It's my own fault.) Alden also made fast friends with his 2nd cousin, Tyler Colby, Patrick & Sheila's son. Tami and her family came too and we are loving seeing them so often over the holidays. There was another white elephant exchange and we got a great Land o Lakes hot chocolate set and a cool clock/picture frame that Aaron is going to take to his office. The only bad part of the evening was that my mom had a terrible migraine and was pretty much in bed the whole evening. Everyone pitched in to clean up, since my parents were still expecting Tami & I with our families on Christmas day. Then Aaron & I headed home to tuck our boys in so Santa Claus could visit us.