We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve in traditional style at the Hymas family and friends open house (hosted by Gage's folks). Its a wonderful thing to catch up with family we only see a handful of times each year. Christmas day we spent the morning opening gifts with the kids...first at our house, then at Gage's folks' house. In the afternoon we went for the traditional Christmas dinner at Gage's grandparents house (oyster stuffing...YUM!). I LOVE traditions... both new and old. It will be interesting to see what traditions may be added or changed as our kids grow.
The week after Christmas we got a surprise snow storm. The snow stuck around all of 48 hours...enough time to enjoy it some, but not so long that it caused problems.
New Year's Eve we ended up having a party at our house. We had around 30 people at our house (including children). The kids played hard and tested out the "santa seat" (see the Christmas 2009 pics in the Hymas Photos link), then they migrated to the spare room to snuggle in and watch a movie. The adults played some poker (Texas Hold'em) and danced into the night. Young and old then gathered to watch the ball drop and bring in the New Year with toasts, kisses and well wishes. This was the first year Ryan stayed up to see the ball drop (before he dropped, exhausted). I think everyone had a great time. I know we did!
Last weekend we took a trip to Redmond, OR with Brian and Kristi for a little vacation. It was REALLY nice to get away and relax (well, as much as one can relax with an almost 2-year old!). The kids all enjoyed playing, the adults enjoyed just being together. We skied at Mt. Bachelor one day...well, more like a partial day as the visibility wasn't great once some heavy fog moved in. Regardless, we got in some good runs and had a great time. Calvin (Brian and Kristi's son) and Ryan went to ski school together. We weren't sure how Ryan would do, but despite falling a lot, he LOVED it. After his all-day ski school, he should have been exhausted, but he was jumping around...totally energized by his new experience. He is looking forward to his next ski school day towards the end of February. He is also really looking forward to his next trip with Ashlyn & Cal. When we got home, and all was calm, and back to "normal"...Ryan started to get really sad, demanding to see Ashlyn and Cal, wanting to know why we couldn't go right then and there to their house. I know I can speak for our whole family when I say that we all had a great time and are looking forward to our next trip with them!
Now we're back to "life as usual"... hoping that it isn't always so "usual", resolving to find our excitement and traditions daily in what we do and what we choose to do. Life is wonderful!
To see more pictures of the above events, go to the Hymas Photos link.
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