Christmas 2009

OK..so yea, I know..it's February and I'm just now blogging about Christmas. I even considered just forgetting it, but my OCD tendencies wouldn't let me!! {it is a curse}

the presents....

it took me 2 hours to wrap that huge present in the back...and the sad part is...Blake had already seen it, so I didn't need to bother...ugh!

Christmas this year was made wonderful by the fact that I was able to pick up my soldier a few days prior to spend the holidays with us :) We weren't sure if or how many days Quentin would get for leave and were ecstatic that he was able to be home for Christmas and New Years.

Christmas at my mom's was postponed because we were drenched with torrential rains that made the roads impassable. {this resulted in WWIII...but definitely not getting into that} My sister and her family ended up coming to my house and we had Christmas breakfast that night...the first time I can remember making chocolate gravy by myself. It's my favorite tradition and it definitely didn't disappoint. We had a blast, just watching the kids open gifts...playing...laughing....creating memories.

We made it to my Aunt Liz's on Saturday...we had to park at the end of the road and be shuttled in because the roads were under water. It was definitely interesting! My grandma thought she would try to navigate through the "lake" and let's just say....her truck will never be the same & I'm pretty sure she'll never try that again!

Christmas Day was spent sleeping in {you can do that when your kids are teenagers} and just enjoying each others company. We try to keep this day as stress free as possible. We played games, slept, laughed...knowing Q would be going to Afghanistan soon.

Later that week we had a "open house" for our friends to come and tell Q goodbye. It was bittersweet. It was nice to see the outpouring of love, but bitter because I knew it meant that our time was getting short.

And if blogger would cooperate...I'd share more pictures, but it's not...and I'm determined to get this posted tonight :)