Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was really busy, but very wonderful. For the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years, all my siblings were together. We didn't have a lot of plain down-time, but we did get to spend time together and that was the important thing. My sister Samantha and her husband Kris brought their new baby and stayed for the entire week leading up to Christmas. We went to the park, we hung out at my house, we played Rock Band, we ate good food ... does it get much better than that? My parents arrived 4 days after my sister's family, so we had 3 very busy days all together as a family. We decided that taking a family portrait was a priority, and after much discussion and disagreement over how, when and where to do it, we all met at the Target photo studio. Considering there are only 13 people total with all my brothers and sisters and their children, our family is not as big as some families. But trying to fit 10 big people and 3 wiggly children into that small studio space was a challenge! Nevertheless, I think the picture we chose was pretty good. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to take another family portrait and that it kind of saddening to me. It's an end, I guess, but it's also a beginning. New lives, new families.

The other main activity that we did while everyone was together was a pizza "throwdown" (cookoff). I wouldn't mind if the pizza throwdown becomes a Christmas tradition! We ended up with 6 different pizzas which were all very good in their own right, except mine which was a veggie pizza and was cold by the time everyone got there! (Oh well!) Everyone got three votes, 5 points, 3 points, and 1 point and the pizza with the most votes won. Bet you can't guess who won ... well it wasn't me, I already said my pizza was cold. My sister-in-law gave me 1 point out of pity I think. Actually, my dear husband Ben won the pizza throwdown this year! He made a "Bodocious Barbecue Pie" the secret to which is our own exclusive technique of mixing regular tomato spaghetti sauce with a little bit of barbecue sauce. So it's neither plain tomato sauce nor plain barbecue sauce. If you like barbecue pizza and you've never tried it, you really should try the mixture! Of course he put bacon and chicken on it and who doesn't like a little bacon? I think a lot of times bacon on pizza is like having a trump card. Jim Gaffigan would agree with me. "Bibbity, bobbety, BACON!"

After Samantha, Kris, and Marin left on Christmas Eve, we made gingerbread houses which was so much fun to do with the kids. Actually we made one gingerbread house, and one gingerbread train. Austin and Jacob worked on the house, Scott and I worked on the train. Emily went back and forth between the two, picking off the candy we had just carefully placed. It was so funny!

Christmas day we went to visit my late grandmother's cousin David, who lives with his wife Phyllis up near Canton, GA. It was a long drive but I had not been up there before, even though they have been down here several times! It was good to see them and to see where the live. We ate Christmas dinner there and hung out for a bit before heading home.

Altogether, Christmas this year was wonderful. I'm so grateful for the family that I have living close to me and I'm sad that the rest of my family lives so far away. At this time of year you truly realize that it's not the gifts or the decorations that make Christmas so special, it's savoring precious moments with beloved family members.