In the past two weeks, life has been pretty crazy. Since I realized I had about three weeks of vacation time that I had to use before the year's end, I've been able to take off most of December. I thought this meant that I would be able to spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the holidays. Who knew that I would be busy pretty much every day?
I spent most of my time with Austin's mom over my long vacation trying to help her as much as I can. She always does Christmas big at her house, and I knew that she could use an extra hand to get everything in order. I also had to go make sure that all of our gifts got wrapped up (and finish up the last of Austin's shopping). Once I knew all of that was taken care of, it was time to start celebrating!!
Christmas Eve is always spent with Austin's dad's side of the family. We had a wonderful dinner with Austin's uncles and aunts and his grandmother. There was a lot of family there and it was a lovely evening. As always, we did participate in the white elephant gift giving. There is a $25 limit on gifts and every person participating has to bring two gifts (that way everyone receives two gifts). The rules change every year, but its basically the same: Everyone picks a number, you choose a gift when it is your numbers turn, you can swap or keep your gift. We ended up with Jon Stewart's "Earth: The Book", John Grisham's "Ford County Stories", a neck/shoulder massager and a season of Seinfeld. Austin's dad also got us a couple of gifts after everyone had left. He got us our pan set that we registered for, a decanter and a couple of movies. Austin also got a couple of shirts from Brooks Brothers.
Christmas day is always spent with Austin's mom and her family and friends. We went over to her house around 9:00 in order to help her finish up the planning for her Christmas dinner that she plans. This year was smaller than years before, only 20 people this time. We were able to get the meal finished and plated by 1:30 and it went beautifully. Austin's uncle, the owner of Blue Goose, Big Shucks and Aw Shucks, gave us plenty of gift cards that should last us for several months. His mom and step dad gave us a lot of small gifts including candles, bath stuff (for me obviously), and new patio furniture. I also got something I've wanted for quite a while, a KINDLE!!! Austin got something much less cool, a new tv.
All in all, I think it was a wonderful Christmas. We spent a lot of time around great family and wonderful friends. This was our third Christmas together, but I think next year will be even more exciting since it will be our first Christmas as a married couple.
