A December to Remember ~ Highlights of 12/2010

There is a relatively new Christmas song that I heard several times during the past month and a half. It's called, "I Need A Silent Night" by Amy Grant. Part of the lyrics of that song, are "December comes, then disappears - faster and faster every year." I had very good intentions, I took a lot of pictures, and planned on blogging about this "most wonderful time of the year." Unfortunately, because of the hustle and bustle of the season, and my computer not cooperating throughout most of it, I didn't get it done. So...here are some highlights of our busy December.

The month started out very cold and snowy...and pretty much stayed that way. Now, I know we live in Minnesota, but this year has been extra specially cold and snowy...in fact, the snowiest December in record! The first Saturday of the month was quite busy, with my daughter Molly's first ever cheer leading competition during the day, and then our church's annual Christmas banquet that night. Coincidentally, both events were brought to you by the letter "C." Champlin's Candy Cane Classic Cheer Competition and A Candlelight Christmas.

Molly's cheer squad did very well, considering it was the first time for all 9 of the girls. It was fun to watch, but all the music was insanely loud.

Above, the girls nervously await their turn. The tallest blonde (behind the coach), is my daughter, Molly.

Below, is a video I took of their entire routine. Like I said, the music was very loud, so it's all distorted. My camera was not made for those kind of decibels.

The girls even ended up with a trophy! They got 4th place in their division. I won't tell you how many squads there WERE in that division, though. ;)

It was a very fun, but very long day for the girls and their mothers. I was extremely thankful to one of the other mothers for driving us down there, in the not-so-great driving conditions. I know she reads my blog now and then...so THANKS, Melissa!

After getting back to town, I had barely enough time to get home, change clothes and get ready for the Christmas banquet. I was hosting a table again this year, and Ray was going to have to meet me there, as he now works on weekends and would not have time to come home first. He actually beat me to church, and had to hide out in his dirty old work clothes for awhile, until I got there with a change of clothes for him.

Above, is the table I decorated. Thankfully, I'd gone the night before and decorated it, because I certainly didn't have time that day! I got the Santa doll from my Grandma Hazel, who used to have a huge doll collection, and also collected Santa's for awhile. I've had the larger doll, "Caroline" for quite a few years, and just added the little girl dolly to my collection. Every time I look at her, she reminds me of my friend, Jody's little girl, "K." I've always wanted to do a table with my dolls as the centerpiece, and it turned out pretty, even though it was a little hard to converse with people across the table from us over it. Here are several of the other beautifully decorated tables:

Above, is the Minnesota table. That's where "Tina and Lena," the evening's entertainment, sat. I'll tell you a little more about them, later.

Some were quite festive, like this "Feliz Navidad" table, and the whimsical tree one, below:

And others were very elegantly decorated:

There was even a motorcycle table!

As I said, "Tina and Lena" were the entertainment for the evening. They're two hilarious ladies, who know just exactly "how to speak Minnesotan" and have a whole lot of fun while entertaining others. As I said, they sat at the "Minnesota Table," which was decorated and hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Beach and their lovely daughter, Jennifer. One of the guests at the table was named Cliff. After the meal, Tina and Lena told us about their experience at the table. One of them got to sit "next to a Cliff," and the other one said it was wonderful to be able to sit across from "three Beaches." After that they walked around the room and introduced us to all the celebrities in the room. I was amazed at how many of them had come out to our humble little church's Christmas celebration! There was Senator Al Franken, (who apparently looks a lot like my husband), and "The Golden Girls" were there, just to name a few.

This is Lena, in the red hat, and Tina is back there with "Cliff," who was laughing so hard I though he was going to fall off of his chair! And of course, who could mistake the lovely "Golden Girls" in the photo on the right?

After that, they asked for some victims/volunteers to help them sing "Jingle Bells." They picked on poor Doug P. and Mike T. Oh, and with Mark C. as Big Ole/the horse. It was pretty funny!

We had a great time at the banquet with very good food, great friends and lots of laughter! Now I've got to come up with another idea for next year's table...

The following weekend, brought our family's adult, or "grown-up's" Christmas party. My sister, Sue and her significant other, Denny have been hosting this party for about 3 years now. It's nice to be able to relax and have fun without all the little kiddos running around, once in a while. We also eat yummy foods, do a gift exchange and sing Christmas Carols around the piano, while Sue provides the accompaniment.

Below, my niece, Rachel unwraps the first of the lady's gifts. It's a memory foam pillow!

This may come in handy for Rachel, as she goes through the next few months, while she tries to stay comfortable, awaiting the arrival of a very precious gift next summer!

The gift exchange is always a lot of fun, and one of the silliest fad-type toys I saw this year were "Sing-a-ma-jigs," below. Funny little creatures that sing, and harmonize with each other.

After the women were done exchanging gifts, it was the guys' turn.

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These are my parents, all dress in red.

Nate B. ended up with the size 2x hoodie that Ray bought from his company store. It was a bit big. That's because Ray wanted to make sure that if no one else wanted it, he could keep it and it would fit him. I heard Nate made a "side deal" with my brother Dan, who had opted out of the gift exchange this year. Oh well, as long as somebody gets to wear it.

My sister, Connie was about to hit a milestone this year too! Although she doesn't look it, she was heading right straight up over the hill that we call, "The Big 5-0!"

To make it a bit less painful, we threw her a "Hawaii 5-0" birthday party on the 17th of the month. That way, we could pretend we were on some tropical island...at least until we walked back outside, into the snow and cold...

Here's the cake I decorated for her.

Connie's actual birthday would not be for another 4 days, but our sister Patty, who passed away from breast cancer in 2003, would have turned 50 a year ago on December 17th. Connie, who shared EVERYTHING with Patty throughout their childhood, wanted to share this birthday with her too. Happy Birthday, Connie and Patty!

While shopping for a gift for her, my daughter and I came across this "Gumby" DVD. We used to watch this old cartoon as kids, and it made me laugh, so I bought it for her. We wrapped it up, along with a gift certificate at a nail salon.

Fast forward with me, just a few days....and we're almost to Christmas already!

Below, is my grandson, Christian, with his reindeer antlers on.

Since his mother, Jessica had to work the weekend of Christmas, she let him open a few presents on "Christmas Eve Eve." He got a Paper Jamz guitar that he loves to "rock out" with.

We decided to let Molly open our "family gift" early, so we could all play with it that day. She opened our new red Wii game console!

The red Wii came with the new Mario Brothers game too...which is fun, I guess...but I've never tried it. Jessica generously got us a few more games to go with it, too.

Molly got "America's Next Top Model, which she absolutely loves, I got "Wheel of Fortune" and Ray got "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" We've had a lot of fun with both of ours, too.

Later that night, after our candlelight service at church, we all piled in the van and headed to my parents' house, which is a little over an hour away from ours.

Above, Christian got some Nerf guns from the cousin that picked his name.

My sister-in-law, Lori, holding her granddaughter, Lauren.

Shelby, taking "close-up" pictures of her cousin, Molly.

It was a very Merry night, indeed. Then, on Christmas Day, I hadn't really planned on a big meal, since Ray's daughter's and their husband's were coming the following weekend, and I was feeling a bit under the weather. My son Joel was planning on coming for supper though, and since we had to eat something, I put a beef roast with potatoes and carrots into the crock pot...and crawled back into bed. However...I forgot to turn the stupid thing ON! Thankfully, Jessica noticed this when she came home from work, and transferred it into a roaster and put it in the oven. Whew! Christmas was saved once again!

While we waited for the roast to be done, we played with our new Wii. Above, is daughter, Molly and son, Joel. Grandson, Christian got a new game for his Wii too.

Molly got to open one more gift, which was a game that included a second Wii-mote. Now we're all set.

We ended the night with a surprise FREE concert, by an up-and-coming new artist who goes by the name of C.J. Ditto! You may want to keep an eye out for him in the near future.