Well the last week has consisted of Trevor's Birthday,school getting out before the break, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the Nutcracker, eating out, and playing lots of games.
We went out to eat with Danny and Amelia and their baby Hannah Morgan for Trevor's birthday. Alex and Eva and their baby Lily Morgan met up with us later that night. There is nothing like hanging out with friends that you can totally relax with. It was exactly what Trevor wanted and was very fun! He, of course, got a couple of parties between both sides of the family... and a beautiful, delicious birthday meal of a shrimp, chicken and pasta medley.
The week before Christmas we had our extended family party for Trevor's side of the family. Don't even ask me how many people were there...too many to count. Even Santa showed up.
The kids at school were very anxious for the Christmas break, but they worked as hard as I hoped for up until the bell rang for them to leave for the break. Nothing makes you feel quite the same way as a classroom full of excited kids for Christmas. The break gives me a little bit of time to start missing and appreciating them!
Amber, my sister-in-law, made a great tri-tip steak dinner for Christmas Eve. She is an awesome cook. I have always wanted her overnight salad recipe and her home-made salsa recipe. And...if you've ever had the chance to try her Sheepherder's spice, you have had a real treat! We spent one night this Christmas break mixing up this spice in home-depot buckets with a drill! It is quite a project for a present for the neighbors. Anyway, we got our traditional pajamas on Christmas Eve, which you can see pictures of below.
Trevor and I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Christmas to have our own, little, personal Christmas. Then we were at my parents at 7:00 a.m. for the Fuller Christmas. If you are fans of "The Office" you probably would have enjoyed our Christmas morning. We gave my niece, Grace, the uni-corn barbie (the one and only that Dwight horded one Christmas) and we gave my brother-in-law his present presented in jell-o. I got a great pressure cooker. Can you believe I steamed carrots later that evening, in my pressure cooker, and it only took a total of 4 minutes? I'm going to love my pressure cooker. So will Trevor, because he won't have to wait as long for dinner! Look at my Grandpa in the back of the picture. I have so many memories of him dressing up as Santa...its a real beard!
We had to make it back to the Schow's house by 4:00 for another Christmas celebration. There is never a dull celebration when the Schow's get together. Jan (Trevor's mom)got a total of about 60 kitchen glasses for Christmas (thats what she gets when all she asks for, for Christmas, is kitchen glasses). There were 6 of us that got her kitchen glasses! It was a very fun day. And we ended the night playing a game called, "Quelf". The game was invented to create a fool out of every person playing. As you can see below, I ended the game wearing a bike helmet, mummifying my face, and wearing Christmas bows as jewelery.
The next day we were at the Nutcracker. I dragged Trevor along by telling him that if he went, it would count as a Christmas present to me. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be...but I think that was because he sat with my niece, Gracie, on his lap. They entertained each other during the show. I thought the Nutcracker was beautiful though.
We also brought my grandparents to see our sons grave. It was such a sweet sight to show up and find that someone else had left a gift for them at their grave. Sweet enough to bring tears to my eyes. They have been in our thoughts non-stop. Their due date was Christmas Eve. What a blessing to know that our little family is loved so much! Trevor and I love to know that we have an eternal family.
We are still having a wonderful Christmas season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
