And To All A Good Night

Christmas break was pretty eventful! We spent the 5 or so days leading up to Christmas up in Midway to spend time with all the siblings who came out. It was fun to just hang out and eat food and sit around. Rosalind got to play with her cousin Bea, who she LOVES. It was so hilarious to watch them interact. Bea would run away, Ros would scream and throw her hands in the air, then Bea would run toward her and hug her, they would both laugh hysterically, and then they would do it all over again. And again. It was pretty funny.

For Christmas Eve and Day, we were at my parents' house. My siblings all came over and it was fun. Christmas Eve we put on a little program, which consisted of silly songs, serious songs, and a "Christmas Wrap" performed by me...(I hope it was funny).

I feel a little bit like a loser mom because this was Rosalind's first Christmas and I didn't make a big deal out of it. I mean, it's not like she sat in a corner and sucked on coal while everybody else partied, but you know.

Christmas Day we had breakfast at our leisure and opened gifts. Ros got a few things, but she didn't really understand opening them, and then needed to take a nap halfway through, so she was a bit of a Scrooge. I didn't even think to take pictures, but fortunately my sister Megan did.

The rest of that day and the next, we basically hung around, and it was really nice to be able to hang out with all the siblings and spouses together. It's not something we get to do often, especially for extended periods of time. I'm thinking especially of Megan and Jared, because they usually leave earlier on family dinner nights, so they aren't really around for games and chatting. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I felt happy after all the sib time.

Also on Christmas Day, we got to Skype with Abby in Idaho. It was fun to see her. It almost doesn't feel too much like she's been gone that long since she stays in touch so well and sends lots of pictures, but it's always good to see a friendly face! Rosalind enjoyed seeing her too. Abby is a babymeister.

Rosalind ended up getting sick Christmas Day with whatever was going around, so she had a fever, cough, and congestion for the next little while. She also happened to be getting teeth at the time. More fun. She also ended up getting an ear infection (her first one!) last week from this, but it's just about cleared up now.

New Year's Eve we went back up to Midway and had the opportunity to go swim as a family in the Crater where Sam works. It was so nice in the water (as always), and Rosalind seemed to enjoy herself until the life jacket started to annoy her. So we went back to the sitting pool and I took it off, and she was enjoying herself in my lap until (I didn't realize the bench was slanted, k?) I slid down the bench and she went underwater for a couple of seconds, which terrified her. Mother of the Year, I am.

Later we took a sleigh ride at the Homestead, which was cool and fun but it was I think -5 degrees Fahrenheit that day, so it was PRETTY chilly. The kids liked seeing the horses though, so it was fun, despite the frozen nose hairs.

After the sleigh ride we came home and had hot chocolate, then red beans and rice. We watched a hipster Daniel Radcliffe movie and then went to bed (at like 9:30pm). Party animals!

All in all, though there were crazy parts over the break, it was really good to see family for so long (Caity was here for a month!), and it was nice to have two weeks off of work (Sam got several days off too!), and we all had a good time.