Merry Christmas!

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last updated our blog! So much has happened since then that I don't even know where to begin. First of all, let me tell you that Randy, Emily, Grace and I hope all of you the merriest of Christmases and may we never forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Our gift-giving started a couple of days ago after Randy came home from last-minute shopping. He had my gift in the back seat of his truck and needed help removing it so I got it early - an absolutely gorgeous solid oak hope chest. I have always wanted one to help preserve keepsakes and as he usually does, Randy came through and gave me one this year. He bought it at a store in Tampa that sells only Amish hand-made furniture and when I say it's heavy, I mean it is HEAVY! And like I already said, absolutely gorgeous. Thank you, baby!

The gift was quite a surprise since we had decided not to do gifts for each other - a new house is quite a large gift! Plus, we bought the new flat screen for our bedroom so I thought that was it. I still wanted him to have something in his stocking though so I got him 3 gift certificates for 1-hour massages. Hopefully they will help relieve some of the tension he's been experiencing from his new job.

The girls had a wonderful morning...but not without drama last night. As is typical with most children, they did not want to go to bed last night and used every excuse they could think of to keep getting out of bed. Grace was so bad about it that I finally put a sign on her door to Santa telling him not to leave her any presents and that the only way I'd take it off her door was if she didn't get out of bed again! Well, it worked...until she came in our room at 3:30!!! Emily did better...until she realized we'd forgotten to put out the reindeer food. Once that was done though, she was out like a light.

The girls were ecstatic when they saw the tree this morning with gifts from Santa. The best gift for Randy and I has been that the two of them have played together VERY well, with no fighting to speak of!

I called my younger sister Stephanie's a little bit ago - the entire family is there today so we were able to speak with almost everyone. It was nice being able to tell them I was sitting outside on our lanai in shorts, enjoying the 76 degree weather. But I have to admit, at times I would like to brave the cold and snow up there just to be able to be with my entire family for the holidays.

We're going to be starting our Christmas dinner soon...a wonderful crab boil with shrimp and lobster tails. Randy is off work until Monday so it will be nice having him home and actually being able to spend time together. Our second shipment of household goods arrived yesterday so I'm thankful to finally have everything under our new roof. More on the 'move from hell' to follow in another blog. In the meantime we're going to try to unpack as much as possible and get the spare bedroom ready for mom's arrival on Monday. Right now it's become a catch-all room but she'll be here late Monday to spend the week. We're all looking forward to her coming down with her Shih Tzu Jack.

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Christmas and may we never forget that the true meaning of Christmas is not the presents under the tree but the birth of Christ. May the New Year bring happiness and prosperity!