Another Christmas has come and gone, this being our 4th as a family of four. I can't believe it. Where does time go? Even this Christmas - we looked forward to it and prepared for it for ages, and then it was over. Just like that. But special memories were made and that's the main thing.
I guess things started in November with a trip to Moncton to visit my brother and his family. We took all the kids to see Santa. They wrote letters and put them in Santa's mailbox and then sat on Santa's lap for a chat. It was the start of our Christmas season.
We went to the library's gingerbread house decorating night with Keely and Keyaunnah. We also did two trips to Saint John with them to see Bubble Guppies at Imperial Theatre. The first trip ended up including a movie since the show was cancelled. We're very fortunate to have these two wonderful friends.
December first saw the return of JoJo the Elf, the advent calendar and a special new Christmas book, a tradition started on Kellan's first Christmas with us. Its a lot of fun to find JoJo each morning, (on this morning he was hanging from the light) and eat a chocolate, and so the early riser started rising even earlier. "I just so 'cited!"
He was in the Santa Claus Parade again this year, on a float put in by the church. It was a beautiful evening and he had a lot of fun, except that it was hard for him to see Bev and Allan in the big equipment (also in the parade). He got to sit beside a little friend in his class, Pacey. We went for a drive afterward to see the lights but he was asleep before we got to North Head so we tried again another night.
The school concert was really cute, although he yawned continuously through both songs. It started at 6:30 on a school night and he was a tired boy. We could see him looking for us while he was on the stage and heard him when he finally found us in the crowd. He did a great job and looked super cute!
Brady was done exams on the 14th, but he had three doctors appointments that kept him away until the 18th. At his last one the post for his tooth was implanted in his jaw, but once they started the procedure they realized they hadn't grafted enough bone the last time and so they had to graft more. He was in a lot of pain for a while and swelled really badly. After a few days though it went down, and he went lobster fishing a few times before and after Christmas to make some extra money.
There was a nice family Christmas dinner at Maxine's on the Sunday before Christmas. As always the food was great and it was good to see everybody. The kids had fun running around and riding the elevator, and Vonnie gave them all toonies for coming in to see her tree.
Once school was out we set to work baking. We made peanut butter balls, shortbread cookies and gingerbread boys. One of those mornings the power truck came to fix our dusk-to-dawn light, which was like an early Christmas gift to the boy who ran outside in his jammies and got to pull levers and sit inside the truck.
My sister-in-law sent us the Jelly Belly game, and Brady, Lex and I tried it out one night. It was so much fun! We had a blast and we were stoic, not spitting out the gross ones or taking a drink after. Yes, I might have gagged a few times. Yes, my eyes might have watered from the disgustingness of rotten egg and vomit, but we did it the right way. We saved most of them to share Christmas Eve, and it was a fun time watching those we love suffer. We'll definitely be doing it again!
We had lots of things to do to keep us busy and before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve. The boys opened new pjs, and they, plus Alexis, got new ornaments with their names engraved on them (two were hockey pucks, Lex's a basketball). Brady had supper with his girlfriend's family but we had Grammy Ross, Robert and Nancy, and Neenie and Pa in for lobster chowder, homemade rolls and cheesecake. After that came the Christmas Eve church service. Brady and Lex came to that with us. Then it was home to put out the cookies and milk for Santa. Since he'd been up since 3:00am that day without a nap (believe me, I tried because I needed one but again was met with, "I just so 'cited!") he went to sleep really quickly. Mum and Dad stayed home for Christmas this year and my aunt and uncle and their two girls from Fredericton came to Nana's. My other aunt and uncle and their three kids plus son-in-law live here on Grand Manan and everyone came to our house for the evening. Brady and Lex were here too, of course. It was a house full of family and laughter and good food and Christmas spirit. We were only missing my brother and sister-in-law and my three nieces. It's pretty hard to travel at Christmas with three little kids, but we all wished they could have been here in the middle of everything.
The evening wound down, things were cleaned up and we "had just settled down for a long winter's nap"...
...when at 3:30am, guess who arrived at my bedside? I did get him to lay down with us and at around 4:30ish he went back to sleep until 7:00, so that was good.
And then, the fun began ...
On the list this year were a Bruder crane, tools, and a barbecue. Check. Check. And check. For tools he got some battery powered ones, but Santa also left a real tool bag just like daddy's with real tools inside. They've already been put to good use. Of course other things magically appeared too.
Thank-you to all who sent gifts and cards. We appreciate every one!
We had Keyaunnah's brother make him two small lobster traps with buoys just like the real ones on daddy's boat (minus the weight). There were even lobsters and crabs in them. Good thing Santa put new work gloves in the stocking again this year!
Christmas night was a family turkey supper at Nana's with the same gang that was here Christmas Eve. Lots of good food and family. Can't beat it...
...Until the next night when it was time for the annual String Game. When Brady, Nathan and Caroline were small we started the tradition of hiding a stocking-type gift somewhere in Nana's house with a piece of yarn tied to it. The yarn was unravelled around the house, the difficulty depended on the age of the child. This year we had 8 balls of yarn strung around Nana's house for the kids to chase. Once they tracked down their gift they sat on the floor in the living room and opened them, youngest to oldest. Brady's almost 20 and he says it wouldn't be Christmas without the String Game. Homemade ice cream always comes afterward. It's all just fun!
We've had such a wonderful Christmas, I feel sad that it's over. It sort of wrapped up today with our first real snow and I baked our turkey. The house smelled so good and the lights looked beautiful in the snow. Brady will go lobster fishing tomorrow and again on Saturday, and then he'll head back to the Miramichi. Things will go back to the way they were and it will be fine, but it's a bit sad to say goodbye to all the Christmas fellowship. On the bright side, we've made special memories and they will last a lifetime.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
