Yes it is the end of January and we're a little behind on our posting. Seriously more fun things have happened besides fixing our pain in the rear toilet. So here's my version of a quick recap of the holiday adventures.
Sean, Amy and Kirk came to visit for two weeks. We had fun playing with them whenever we could. We had family pictures taken with the Odenwalders. We had to squish in as there were four families=9 adults and 4 children. (Don't have the pics yet, but when we get them I'll post the one that Peter and I got.) Basically every evening during the week we had something going on. We were either at the Odenwalder hotel (they had 12 people staying with them for about two weeks) or the Blazer house.
On Christmas Eve we enjoyed driving around Westwood and seeing the luminaries lining the streets. Some homes even put up fantastic light displays. Last year we went and it was a somber experience. Many homes had been burnt in the fires so empty lots remained. This year many of the homes were already rebuilt or in the process and had luminaries out.
We also spent Christmas Eve eating dinner with the Blazers and then heading over to the Odenwalders for some late night excitement. Earlier on Christmas Eve the nieces and nephew opened a present from Peter and I. They all got matching Christmas sleepers. This was the best picture of all four of them in front of the tree. Kirk was very sick, Ellie didn't want to wear the red ones and I was told it was hard to get them to sit in front of the tree for a picture. :)
Christmas morning was spent with the Odenwalder clan. The highlight gift from Santa was nerf guns for Peter, Chris and Sean. The guys spent the day shooting at each other and using the wives as shields. At one point Sean was standing behind Mary and shooting at Chris. Chris did his best to not hit his wife while aiming for Sean. Throughout the time while Sean and Amy were there you could count on nerf wars to happen at any moment and no one was safe. Us girls tried working on a puzzle while the boys played. We became easy targets, but once we got shot we didn't give the bullets back. They learned not to disrupt puzzle concentration.
We didn't spend a single dinner at our own home during the holiday break. We kept very busy with the families. I helped my mom paint the house. I was supposed to just do the second story since I don't mind going on the roof, but I kept on going and nearly had it done when I ran out of paint and it was getting pretty cold and dark. Peter helped get a computer ready to give away. Peter also did some home repair jobs. Yes the toilet works now thanks to Peter and my dad. Then Peter's dad came over and helped get shelves up in our outdoor closet, and Peter put curtains up in our family room area. A lot was accomplished during the break and it feels good to have a more complete home now.
We spent New Year's Eve at home watching Horton Hears a Who-great movie! We started falling asleep around 11:45 and basically just barely made it to midnight and then we went to bed.
