First came Little Brother's adoption anniversary. He was in a Christmas program at our church the same night that we celebrated. I don't think he enjoys the spotlight much...he walked all the way down the isle with both hands over his face hiding it. I thought...uh oh. I figured he wouldn't sing at all after that entrance, but he did. He had been singing the songs at home for weeks before - he loves to sing and even taught me some of the songs that I had not heard before. He did great! Except for maybe the booger picking incident just after the kids were dismissed to go with their families. The picking wasn't as bad as the eating part. I think he was nervous...he doesn't usually pick his nose and eat it. I swear! Our family noticed it, but hopefully others were looking at their own kid. :D
Anywho, after the program we all headed over to my house to eat cake and watch a video I made for him. The cake was ho-hum, but the video was a hit. Can't believe it's been 4 years since I was in Vietnam meeting this sweet little baby boy.
Just a little later in December my first born, my beautiful spitfire daughter, turned 17. I am so happy that she is such a good kid. She is nearing adulthood, but she is still a kid. Still innocent and naive in ways that I wish more teens her age were. She is full of compassion for both animals and people with a huge heart.
Her birthday is close to Christmas and usually we have her party a few weeks before just to move it away from the craziness of the holidays. We waited this year so that my dear aunt Anne from Idaho could join us. We got together for supper (I made some yummy pork carnitas with lime & cilantro rice) and then we played some really fun games...like drawing a chicken with a blindfold on...and transferring M&M's out of one bowl and into your cup using only a straw...and a game where you try to keep your orange safe while your opponent tries to knock it off your spoon. Great fun. My mom won that game. We even had prizes (scented candles) for the winners.
Here is how the final 2 rounds of the orange game went - my mom vs. my sister in law and then my mom vs. my brother. :D
It was nice to spend time with the family. We celebrated Christmas with my mom and her side on Christmas Eve and then I had Christmas at my house with my siblings, my dad and my aunt J. It was really nice. I think we all had a nice time and I didn't break any dishes in the pan of sweet potatoes or any other pan this year. Yay me!
We exchange names for the adults in my family on my mom's side, but we all buy for all of the kids. My kids got so many awesome things from my relatives. I was proud to be able to afford to give the kids each nice things this year (thank you Dave Ramsey for helping me change my life with regards to finances!). I got some really nice things too! Like some clothes shopping money, a food processor to make my famous salsa with (my old one was a borrowed hand-crank one), new wooden spoons, and the awesomest mats for my kitchen. I have plantar fasciitis and I spend a lot of time baking/cooking so they feel like heaven on my feet! Christmas is my favorite holiday.
New Year's Eve we got together again at my house. My mom, dad, siblings, aunt and uncle all came over. My dad brought a Porketta roast and jumbo shrimp that we made into shrimp scampi. So heavenly. We had some homemade wine that my dad made - he made it extra sweet the way we like it. I also tried some Strawberry wine that I loved. I am not a wine drinker, so it was great that I found 2 that I liked in one night! We played Yahtzee and laughed, talked, and hung out together. I seriously have the BEST extended family. Even though my parents are divorced, they get a long great and my dad and my mom's boyfriend are also friendly to each other.
So now it is the 4th of January. I keep trying to take the tree down, but somebody always protests. Today it was lil bro. He said I should leave it up...because it's beautiful. He showed me all the things he liked on it - like how the bulbs make him and everything reflected in it look different colors. He's sick today so I figured I'd let him enjoy it one more day while he laid on the couch watching SpongeBob. :)
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