Another memory: Christmas 2010

Christmas is already over this year. Wow, it goes so fast! But what a fun Christmas it was! On Christmas Eve afternoon my mom and I went to visit two members of my dad's church who have been pretty sick. We brought them some cream puffs too because they're my mom's favorite and she loves sharing them with people. I must admit, I'm not the first person to want to do something like that but my mom definitely is. I'm really glad I decided to go with her. We had some great conversations with both people. One actually has a very severe brain tumor and his positive attitude is simply amazing. Seeing him and speaking with him was very inspiring. He got a little teary eyed when he was speaking about wanting to make sure his family was taken care of but we also had quite a few laughs too.

Christmas morning arrived kind of late. We all slept in until 9:30ish. That's never happened!! I've been so tired since getting home. The past few weeks in NYC I haven't been sleeping well at all and I think since it's a lot more peaceful out here in the country and I don't have school work to worry about, I'm catching up on all that missed sleep. Kinda nice but I don't really like sleeping in too much. Anyway. We took our time in the morning and didn't exchange presents until a little after 11. It was great! My parents really enjoyed the menu I put together for them - not having much money made me get a little creative so I decided to make them a real nice dinner one night while I'm at home (also got them some other little things). I'm actually looking forward to that too. That afternoon I helped my mom make some dishes for our Christmas dinner... which included having to run back and forth to my sister's house to use the oven over there because we had so much food. Later that evening Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tim, Chris, Melissa and Joe came over and we had a very long, very fantastic dinner all together. We always end up stuffed and then laughing on top of that so everyone is in severe pain by the end of dinner.

Christmas Dinner!

And now let's all feel bad for my dad. His birthday is the day after Christmas and the poor guy always had his birthday overshadowed by this holiday. He had a great day though! His biggest gift: at the church they decided to do their Christmas program again so he didn't have to write a sermon. He was so happy! The afternoon was pretty quiet for him which he loves. I spent three hours of the afternoon on the Wii at my sister's house (remember, they're in Buffalo) playing Michael Jackson: The Experience. I've got the high score on all the songs! (I'm also the only one who has played so far, but I'm pretty confident they'll stick for awhile.) Only stopped playing because it was getting close to my dad's birthday dinner time. One of the other two Triangle families (there are three of us... we're more like chosen family than friends) came over for dinner and of course, the traditional Carvel birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

This morning I realized I hadn't seen my Triangle sister Jayce since LAST Christmas. I've missed her a lot and it was SO wonderful to spend time with her - and the whole family. Jayce spent last year in Scotland and Ireland living and working in an eco village. She's got brilliantly interesting stories! She's in school in Arkansas so right there are three reason we haven't seen each other in so long. I saw Tav only a few months ago and he got SO much taller just in the time I've been in NYC! This morning when I saw him I literally said "WOW!" outloud.

Definitely enjoying my time back here in the Valley. It really is a beautiful place and today with the snow falling, it was GORGEOUS. These past few days here have been very relaxing and I'm not even halfway through yet. Hoping to make the most of each day!