Our Christmas!

You know I was doing so good with this whole bloging thing till I found facebook...then I find myself looking and spending a ton of time on there! Jackie it is all your fault....lol! Well I would count myself as ungrateful if I didn't spend a little time talking about my holidays...I am not much of a story teller and no one thing in particular happened....it was just kind of the magic of the entire season.

First of all we knew that we would not have a normal Christmas because with Rob working out of town and on shift work we were not going to have our Christmas until Saturday Morning...December 27. So every Christmas my Mom, Brothers and Sister draw names and give each other a special gift, that way we don't have to buy presents for everyone...and everyone gets one...saves a lot on money, but it is fun to find that special present for the one person you have. We have found you really learn a lot about that person! Well my Aunt Shana has moved here from California and is living with my Mom til her house gets built....so we also added her to our gift exchange...this was a special treat because living in California she doesn't get to visit a lot. Next we were talking with my Uncle Josh and his wife when we were staying down in the valley with them and they were saying that they were going to be up for that Saturday...which was also a treat because we also don't get to see them that often.....so then we also added them and there daughter Melinda to our gift exchange. Then my Dad was also coming that Saturday...so we also added him to our gift exchange. This was an extra special treat for me. Over my lifetime I have not spent a great deal of time with my Dad, but over the last two years I have seen him a lot more. He came last Christmas and spent almost a week, which was a load of fun, then he came for one of Robby's football games, which was absolutely wonderful...but for him to come shortly after that for Christmas and spend a week with us.....well I can't tell you how excited I was. Well we also had one more suprise visit and that was from Rob's brother Drew, from Las Vegas! He got here Friday afternoon. It was amazing...my most favorite people in the world were all going to be here to spend Christmas with us!

Well...our Christmas Eve....Friday night...we spent at the Dog House and had a blast...we had a air hockey tournament and I was worried all night....Rob was on his way home and called and said he was stuck in Globe...they had closed the roads for the night. So poor Rob had to stay in the car all night waiting for it to open. So Dad got to my house at about midnight on Friday night...he got there early so he could see us open our presents...so Saturday morning we all headed to my Mom's house with all our presents in tow...and had to wait for Rob to arrive...to open presents. My poor kids...lol they were fine waiting a couple of days...it was the last few hours that killed them waiting for their Dad to make his way home! When Rob came in the door it was wonderful........Christmas with my entire family! Mom, Dad, Brothers, Sister, Kids, and some very special guests that is what Christmas is about Family! We started opening about 10 and Rob took his place as the passer outer of the presents and we ...for the first time...really took our time opening presents and enjoying being together opening presents from each other, laughing, and having a great time.

Then came the eating! Holy Cow...can my family cook and eat! Well most of the cooking came from my Dad! The first night my Dad cooked us all Orange Roughy Fish...and to anyone who knows me I HATE FISH! Well he made the best fish I had ever had! Don't ask me...he had it in Milk and other things, but it was really good! Next on the menu was Crawfish (otherwise known as crawdads) Louisianna style with red potatoes and corn on the cob...and gumbo. WOW! This was good! We had a blast sitting around the table peeling and eating them...it was fun. Next came his famous chili..well that was good too, but the topper for that night was the cactus dip he made. It literally had prickly pear cactus in it! It was wonderful! Next but not least was the making of Tamales...yes we spent all day Thursday making tamales. Amy and Dad took the lead on this. I had never made them before, this was quite an adventure! Boy were they good, and I think we ended up with about 20 or so dozen. So in between eating our delicious meals we played a ton of Rock Band, went out shooting, and one of the funnest adventures was geocaching out by woodruff. It was one week that I will truly never forget! Family....Food....and.... Fun!