We were home for ten days. Although, it was more like we were on a ten day Christmas tour :) We cram-packed those days home with visits and Christmas's, shopping and eating.
Our Christmas kick-off began on Thursday, December 17. It is a Benanda Tradition to have a Benanda Christmas Linner every Christmas season. I usually go all out, cooking and baking and decorating.... But this year we simply ordered pizza and played some games. There was no time for me to cook and bake. Plus we wanted some American pizza.
Friday, December 18. We exchanged our own Christmas gifts in our own living room- opening packages in record time! We had a schedule to keep after all...You have read about our friends, the Greenings. They are our dear friends who have sent us some pretty awesome care packages. Anyway, they made the trek down from Nebraska to spend an evening with us and we were totally (haha, totally!) excited to see them! We exchanged gifts with them at our house and then went out to dinner- Mexican of course! It was great to see them (and see how their baby is growing in Kelley's tummy! So wish we could be there to greet the little Greening when he/she welcomes the world!)
On December 19, we rode along to Iowa for the Edler Christmas: A Green Christmas, in honor of Obama. Yes, it was a joke and we Republicans had fun with it. We wore pj's to show our motivation, and shared green gifts (either the color green or green as in "going green.") We then did a gift exchange: "*This is a Public Option gift exchange. You don’t have to participate, but you MUST bring a gift. Please bring more than you intend to receive. Also, new rules apply for this year’s white elephant exchange. No competition will be allowed and those who forget their gifts will choose first." (taken from the invitation) I must admit, it was quite entertaining. I apologize if this is offensive to anyone reading this, but please do not take it personally. it was all in fun and please keep in mind that we are all entitled to our own opinions.
(Ben's super cute second cousin tried on other people's shoes. What a thoughtful little guy!)On December 20 we received another visit from some glorious friends from Topeka: Brandon and Laura Smart! We shared Starbucks and conversation. Wish we could have had more time together....but that's just how it goes, I suppose.
Our next Christmas stop was at the Connell (my in-law's) household for our family celebration on December 22. No themes for this one, just gifts and family! Ben had a grand ol' time wrestling with his brothers and playing video games. Matthew played Santa and distributed the packages. Jill enjoyed being pampered with gifts from her husband and children. Chris serenaded us with his guitar and country music voice. Patrick pummeled Ben in Madden Football. Nick cracked some good jokes here and there. Craig wanted more gifts. And I just smiled away, happy to be home. At the end of the evening I was presented with a Birthday cake- Jill's birthday cake! (It was December 19th!) They sang me Happy Birthday and then brought out a second cake just for me, so sweet :)
Shannon Armstrong (my oldest friend!) paid us a visit on December 23. We would have made our way down to the Plaza lights, but it was raining outside and the roads were getting slick with ice...so we played games instead. Lots of games on this Christmas tour...
And then it really got crazy.
Christmas eve arrived and we had to pick up the speed. We stopped by Ben's parent's home to visit with his relatives who had just arrived, spent two hours there and then headed over to my Gentry Grandparent's home. We ate a quick dinner, did some gift exchanging and then pushed through the snow (more on that later!) to attend the Calvary Christmas Eve Service.
Sadly, many people opted not to brave the snow for church. It boggles my mind to see people make their way to the stores on a snowy Christmas eve but not church. Come on people, it's CHRISTmas after all! All in all, it was a very intimate Christmas eve service. We then gave my cousins (Elisa and Michael) a ride back to their home....then returned to my parent's house to open our Christmas pajamas. Ben gained a lot of snow driving experience, what a stud!
Christmas morning dawned bright and early and we dug our way to my parents house for the next jubilee. Even Brock was able to join us via Internet from Iraq! My Dad got a little goofy with the video chat. He likes to stick his butt in the pictures and pretend to fall over. Such a goof! But then again...so is my sister...check out her ducky towel in the photos! My Mom was happy with her gifts and proudly displayed her new Safrican purse! And Ben and I loaded up on candy and clothes! But, the story of our time home, we couldn't stay long. We then returned to my Grandma's house to say hello to everyone before heading off to the big Connell Christmas at Ben's parent's home once again. Good food and fun times as we played Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase. I think Ben's extended family may have learned I am not quite as shy as they thought I was. At least I hope they saw that... Anyway, we could hardly believe how fast the day slipped away through our fingertips...for before we knew it, we had to make our way home.
And so there you have it. In between each of these celebrations we were either out shopping or visiting more family and friends. As you can see, we were constantly on the go. We sadly did not get to see our other two sets of Grandparents. My Grandma Faucher is stuck at home in Montana with some injuries after slipping on the stinky ice. And Ben's Grandma Connell had a fall of her own right before our trip home. She and Grandpa Connell had planned to come down to KC for the Connell Christmas, so it was a bit of a punch when they couldn't come. We missed you all!
I can't help but wonder... what will next Christmas be like?
***PS- THERE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MORE PICS BUT BLOGGER WILL NOT LET ME UPLOAD MORE> I HAVE TRIED 6 TIMES. SORRY FOR THE LACK OF COMPLETE PHOTOS!!***
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