That's just crazy talk!

Finally, Christmas is over! Yay! Well, almost… still a few more celebrations to go.

The only parts of Christmas I still like are seeing family (but not having to chose between who to go see since they are usually on the same day) and giving people their presents. The Monday before Christmas our Monday crew did presents for the Monday crew kiddos. I just love buying presents for them and watching them open them!! They are finally getting to the age that they know what presents are and they like opening them. Hopefully next year there will be 4 more kids. ;)

Christmas Eve Phil and I had his mom and grandma over for dinner. I made a yummy pork roast with mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, buns, etc. We had the whole works except instead of pie we had ice cream. :) After hanging out for a bit they went home and Phil and I opened presents. Phil got me a mini laptop and I was completely surprised. I can usually guess what he got me and I had no idea. But I’m very happy with it. My old laptop was about 8 years old and was a monster. So it was time for an update. I got Phil a Kindle Fire and I’m excited to see how it works. Hopefully he will get a lot of use out of it.

Christmas morning I headed to Brainerd alone to spend time with my mom’s side of the family. I haven’t seen them the last two years for Christmas so I thought I would skip my dad’s side this year and go up there. It was definitely good to see everyone but I missed my dad’s side and being in the car for 6 hours that day wasn’t my favorite thing. But I fully enjoyed seeing my little sister open all her presents! She is so darn cute and she loved the zebra backpack that I got her and the cupcake shirt.

Friday I’m celebrating Christmas with my Monday crew. We are all going to a comedy club for dinner and a show. I don’t think any of us have done that before so it should be a fun new experience!! I can’t wait!

Last but not least, next week I’m having a little “Christmas” with my brother and his girlfriend. We are just going to go out for dinner. Nice and simple - just the way I like it. :)

I remember when Christmas time used to be so easy and so much fun. Our family would always go to church on Christmas Eve and then go home, eat a nice dinner and then open our presents (except for our stockings). When we were still gullible my mom would always rush to put the presents under the tree and put half eaten cookies on the counter while we were waiting for her in the truck with dad ready to go to church. When we got home from church my dad would tell us to look at the roof really close and we could see the reindeer tracks. Of course we believed him and I have a foggy memory of getting so excited because I thought I saw the reindeer tracks on the roof! Man I was gullible. Christmas morning we would wake up really early and dig into our stockings (one of my favorite parts of Christmas) and then lay around in our PJs until it was time to go.

We would always have one Christmas with my dad’s side of the family at my grandma and grandpa’s house (which was almost directly across the road from our house). My grandma made the best meals and treats!! Oh how I miss those dinners! I am the only girl on that side of the family. My aunt has 4 boys and my uncle has 1 boy and then it is me and my 2 brothers. But when I was a kid I was a tomboy so I fit right in!

We also had Christmas with my mom’s side of the family at my Aunt Laura’s house in Stillwater. It’s funny because every time we drove to Stillwater we would pass Andersons and my dad would always tell us about the time he worked there. We had heard the story a million times but he would still tell us every time we drove past there. Christmas with my mom’s side of the family was always one of my favorite times of the year. Again, I was the only girl in the family but I fit in with the boys just fine. We were really close with my cousins on my mom’s side so we always had a ton of fun together.

Now that we are grown things have changed immensely. First, my grandma passed away so Christmas with my dad’s side of the family was never the same. Then my parents got divorced and I felt like I had to choose who to go see on Christmas. Since my mom lived a few hours away it was hard to do both. By that time Phil and I had been together for a few years and I started going to his family events as well. Then my dad died and that changed my whole view on Christmas. This will be my third Christmas without my dad and I still don’t want to put up the Christmas tree. I still do it every year in the hopes that I get into the Christmas spirit but all I want to do is take down the tree. I don’t even turn the Christmas lights on anymore. At least I have very fond memories of what Christmas used to be about - family. Maybe when Phil and I have kids of our own I will be more inclined to get back into the Christmas spirit for them.

I had a wonderful Christmas this year but I’m sure glad it’s over! I started my Christmas out with my Monday crew. We had a little potluck and exchanged presents the Monday before Christmas. Great way to start out the holidays I must say! I got a pretty scarf and earrings from Loin (thanks again Loin:))! It was so cute watching Sammie open her presents and seeing what both her and Dex got for Christmas!

On Christmas Eve morning I went to the farm and went through paint colors with my brother. We (well, mostly just me – painting party anyone?) are painting the entire inside of the house. There will be no old paint colors left standing when I’m through with it! Justen and I were not going to do presents this year but when I was shopping I found something I knew he would love and I just had to buy it. I love watching people open presents! After hanging out for a bit and picking a few paint colors, Justen took off to Menards and I went home to clean the house and get ready for Christmas Eve.

Phil and I had his mom and grandparents over on Christmas Eve and made some yummy food and opened more presents. Then after his family left we both decided we were too excited to wait until Christmas Day to open our presents so we opened them that night. It is my family’s tradition to open presents on Christmas Eve and then open our stockings on Christmas Day morning. I’d like to stick with this tradition but Phil doesn’t like it. Anyway, Phil opened his presents and I opened mine. I got him a new chair for his office (the one he wanted from Ikea) and then a few little things. He got me surround sound for my TV upstairs and lots of little things. I think we were both very happy with our gifts this year!

Christmas morning we lounged around the house and then got ready to go our separate ways. Phil went to his mom’s house for Christmas with that side of the family and I went to my Aunt Laura’s house for my mom’s side of the family. Once we have kids we won’t be able to go our separate ways anymore! Christmas with my mom’s side was very nice. I missed everyone and it was very nice to see them all again. I hadn’t seen most of them since last December! The cousins are getting so big! It is weird because now we are all adults drinking beer around the table instead of running around shooting each other with darts or causing some sort of ruckus like when we were kids!

The day after Christmas, Phil and I drove up with Justen and his girlfriend, Ashley to my Aunt Barb’s house to have Christmas with my dad’s side of the family. Again, weird that everyone is grown up!! We had a good time, enjoyed a few mimosas, good food and the annual dice game. When Phil and I got home we took down everything Christmas (except for the outside lights). I usually leave it up until New Years but I just was so done with Christmas and I wanted my living room back. So, all in all it was a very good Christmas this year – much better than last year. I’m hoping that the snow storm I’ve been hearing about doesn’t ruin our New Years Eve. We plan on going out to downtown Hudson.

My new year’s resolution: to cook more (and that doesn't mean spaghetti ;)).