Merry Christmas 2010

With a winter weather advisory in effect and (reasonably light) snow falling on the ground, Grandma & Grandpa Olson ventured over from WI to spend Christmas with us. (Last year, they got "snowed out" with a bad forecast that brought only rain our way, but it was best to be "better safe, than sorry".) They arrived just after Sydney woke from his nap and he was THRILLED to see them!

We enjoyed a family Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve here at our house with Grandma & Grandpa Olson joining us. Our Christmas Eve menu included: Mixed Green salad, Grilled Steaks, "Why I Come to Christmas Dinner Lima Beans" (new recipe I found on the internet), Corn Pudding Supreme, and Strawberry Layer Jello. It was DELICIOUS!

We also enjoyed visiting with Uncle Mike and Auntie Karin via Skype. This is our first time seeing Uncle Mike since mid-August when he left for Florida. (Auntie Karin is enjoying her winter break with temperatures above freezing and the thought of NOT SHOVELING ANY SNOW at their condo in Milwaukee for the week.)

We opened a few presents throughout the day and into the evening - giving Sydney a chance to soak in some of the magic of Christmas.

Santa came while we were sleeping and brought a shopping cart and a toy kitchen for Sydney.

Grandpa Lowell joined us and the Olson grandparents for Christmas Day brunch this morning. We had delicious quiche, fresh grapefruit and two kinds of toast. (We're REALLY enjoying our cinnamon sugar on toast since we started using THE TOP RATED Cinnamon on the market, as rated by America's Test Kitchen. YUM!) 

Unfortunately, the elves must have only had time to assemble the shopping cart for Sydney. (The elves nimble fingers must be able to assemble toys faster than us, but they have A LOT of children to make toys for so, we didn't mind helping out.) It took Daddy, Mommy, Grandma & Grandpa Olson's teamwork close to 2 HOURS to assemble the toy kitchen. It gave us time to spend together while Grandpa Lowell and Sydney read books, watched Sesame Street and played with some new toys.

Sydney ate some lunch and despite a little protest, went down for a nap. Mommy assured him that he could play with Grandma and Grandpa and Grandpa when he woke up and that we were going to open some more presents and have even more fun. Thankfully, he was tired and cooperative. (He did think it was funny to smell my feet while I sat in the recliner in his room, moving back and forth between the two - sniffing loudly. I'm not sure where or when he learned this new trick, but it was kind of funny.)

We talked to Grandma Carol on the phone and got to wish her a Merry Christmas. (She's celebrating the holidays with Uncle John, Aunt Sharie, Cousin Alder and Auntie Nicki.)

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a spread of appetizers: veggies & dip, cheese & crackers, spreads, a YUMMY hot dip, spanakopita appetizers and bacon-wrapped filet pieces - as well as some desserts.

We spread out some more presents throughout the day, as well as playing with some of the new ones from yesterday. 

Grandma & Grandpa Olson packed up and ventured home again. We'll hope to see them again in a few weeks for cousin Rachel's winter wedding. Grandpa Lowell hung out for a little while longer and we sent him home with a gourmet doggie bag (from last night's dinner that he missed) as well as some desserts.

It was a GOOD DAY and great to be surrounded by family and good food! We are blessed.

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I am anxious to download some photos because today, we got to use OUR NEW CAMERA that we purchased with Christmas gift money! It's pretty complicated - compared to our old point & shoot, but guaranteed to take GREAT PHOTOS. (I took a handful of photos to test it out, but haven't yet looked into the settings to see what kind of quality level it is set at. We've got A LOT of reading to do to learn how to use this DSLR to it's full capability. So far, what we've seen in the 3" preview window, we're LOVING what we're seeing!)

Thank You! We love it!