Christmas

Note: Pictures will be posted. But Kevin is busy watching "The Devil Wears Prada" because he really likes all the fashion stuff. So I have to wait.

We had a great Christmas weekend.

I, too, was shocked.

We drove down Wednesday night in the pouring rain. I made Kevin turn around in Centralia because I was craving potato cakes from Arby's. Mom met us at her house and we had a great pizza dinner at the new place near her house. Earlier on the phone, she asked what kind of pizza we liked. We responded, "Oh, either Disornos or Freshetas in the frozen section of the grocery store." Hey, that's what we have on pizza nights. Mom was thinking something a little nicer. So she treated us to yummy gourmet pizza at 360 Degrees, a new place just down the street.

Dinner with the family was Thursday night. David came up after work, but Beth was too sick. We sent Dave home with leftovers. Cindy and Tom were there, and John brought his on-again girlfriend because at 17 years old, who really wants to hang with the fam? We opened presents! Mom got us a chainsaw complete with a riddle to solve before the chainsaw appeared. Cindy gave us a gorgeous cast iron skillet, perfect for whacking misbehaving husbands. But it was Danica and Freya who got to open the most gifts, all from Grandma.

She's very excited about having a baby around next year. And so are we :)

Friday we got together with Glen and Darling Stacia for lunch. Their house is adorable, so cutely decorated and much cleaner without two dogs to shed in the corners. They, not having babies and such, are off to Mexico for their first anniversary. Kevin and I just went out to dinner for our first anniversary. In Parkland.

Then we spent the evening with Jay and Elijah. Mommy Chenoah was off to Seattle for a lucky girls night out. All four of the puppies (combined weight about 250 pounds) ran around the house, played with the baby, and stole toys from each other. It was the most perfect, relaxing evening. Jay treated us to pizza (we tried very hard to pay for the whole damn thing, but Jay is a big jerk and would take any of it) and we hung out watching movies, chatting, and making the baby smile. The boys had a glass of very fine scotch, and even a sniff told me how tasty fine it was. We are going to invite ourselves back very soon to hang out again. They just have one of those comfortable houses that makes you want to linger.

Jay, being a sweetheart, took our puppies for the night Saturday so the in-laws could maintain a clean house. We spend the rest of the weekend with Kevin's family, laughing at Grace's comments, eating lots of food, and talking about everybody we know. Dinner was fab, as always. The most popular dish was the home-made mac'n'cheese. The next morning Kevin, MIL, and I headed to church (FIL sings in the choir). And I wasn't bored! Therefore, a good church service. Then the dogs were picked up, and we headed back for brunch. The dogs were relegated to the laundry room. Grace found it hysterical that Freya could get her paw AND tongue under the door.

Christmas Eve was lovely, just Kevin, me and our puppies. We watched Love, Actually. We ate my favorite chicken dinner with this sauce made with mayo and sour cream. It's so good I just want to stick my face in it.

I worked Christmas Day. Kevin called from home, wondering what to do for Christmas Dinner. Then we decided that only Shari's would do. Not as classic as Denny's, but better food. Overall, a great Christmas Day.