Happy Holidays!

Isn't it funny how up until Christmas, the whole red & green decor, Christmas lights, wrapped presents, and decorated trees are so exciting and fun...and starting the day after Christmas, suddenly they aren't anymore? I've been holding myself back since Monday to not take it down yet. (I kind of want to wait till I can do it by myself, once kids are back in school. But I might not make it, 'cause every day I see my decorations all over the place, I long for the "clean" feel of having it all put away.)

Anyway, most of us had a great Christmas. For the kids and myself, things went pretty much as planned. But not for Sean. He had the rotten luck of being on call the week of Christmas and New Year's both, including both holidays. Just as he walked in the door Christmas Eve to grab us and go see a movie, he was called back into work. The kids & I saw "The Tale of Despereaux," but Sean saw someone's heart attack.

He was called in Christmas morning at 4 am. Although the kids were all awake at 5:30, I sent them back to bed & to sleep, hoping Sean would make it home in time to see them open presents. I held the kids off till 7:30...and Sean made it home about 8:30. Missed his kids' Christmas morning.

I'll put my pics on later. I don't have them on my computer yet.

When my family was here for quiche and scones later that afternoon, Sean was called in again. Friday was supposed to be a day off of work, but he went in at 10 am...and I didn't see him again till about 10 pm. Saturday morning brought the 7 am phone call for him to go in, and he completely missed church Sunday because--you guessed it--he was working. He even got to go back in Sunday evening for a bonus round.

So, although I tried to do the best I could to make the holiday a merry one for him, unfortunately, the hospital had other plans, and this just wasn't his best Christmas year.

I think my kids would completely disagree with that: they each had a wonderful day. Jamison's favorite present was probably a new duffel bag (a camo one!) for camping, although the presents he's used most are a Nerf Wii game and a Sonic game for his Nintendo DS.

Raleigh's favorite present was a new DS of her own. She didn't ask for one, and probably wouldn't have thought she'd want one, but now that she has it, it's great fun. Her favorite game right now is her Nintendogs. (instead of the real puppy she asked for)

Tristan's hands-down all-time favorite present was a DS as well. He's been begging and hoping for one with all of his heart. He got a Mario game and a Pokemon game to go with it, and he's in absolute seventh heaven.

Sabra's favorite present was her dollhouse. It's taller than she is, and even came with real wooden furniture ("How do the elves make the furniture, Mom?"). It's absolutely darling, and even though Raleigh's too old to play with Barbies (just ask her!), the two of them have spent hours playing with the dollhouse and the two Diamond Castle Barbie dolls Sabra got for Christmas.

Sean understandably hasn't had much time to enjoy his Christmas stuff yet, but in my opinion his favorite gift will be his new iPod nano. It will make life much nicer to be able to listen to music or Conference talks, or books on tape, etc. on his daily train rides back & forth to work. Welcome to the 21st century! In a few weeks he'll probably like trying out a couple of new tools on Tristan's pine wood derby car. (Don't ask me what they are; I only know that once when we were in Costco Sean admired the set, so I went back & bought them later.)

I'm enjoying having a waffle iron once again, but my favorite gift so far has been Wii Fit. Everyone's having fun playing the games on it, and having fun getting fit at the same time. My thighs were hurting for 2 days after trying to do the lunges (and that was on beginner mode!).

So, all in all, it's been a good holiday season so far. It's New Year's eve, and I haven't heard from Sean yet, so I don't know if this will be a repeat of last week. Hopefully the call-in curse has been lifted and he can enjoy what's left of the holiday week & weekend!