Monday, December 29, 2008
Merry Christmas, 2008! I'm finally getting around to posting about Christmas. Bethany was really excited about all of her presents and the general gaiety of the day, as you'll see from the pictures! We had so much fun watching Bethie unwrap her gifts. 
James gave me a wonderful gift--a night off with the girls! Bethany had not been sleeping well the few days prior to Christmas, and I was pretty darn tired. After giving me a bunch of my favorite pampering stuff, James explained that he had arranged it with Grandma Johnson that I could have a slumber party at her house with my mom and sister! Thoughtful, huh?! So that evening, my mom, my sister and I braved the blizzard and drove to Grandma's (and Grandpa's, didn't mean to leave you out there, Gromp). We had a wonderful time playing games, eating stuff and visiting. Then, right before I took my luxurious bubble bath and fell into bed, I called James to wish him a good night and to thank him once again. As it turns out, James had been throwing up all night--very ill. But he didn't want to tell me and ruin my night! After arguing for awhile about whether or not I would come home (I wanted to, he didn't want me to), James convinced me to stay, since Bethany was asleep and he was just going to bed anyway. Not to mention the raging blizzard outside, which was pretty dangerous by this time. So I stayed, but felt quite guilty about the whole situation! (He survived the night, brave man, and is doing better now. Stupid stomach flu.)
Some of Bethany's favorite gifts:
1. Her new slippery slide! Bethany got a new slide for Christmas! She absolutely LOVES it and has slid down it more than a hundred times already. She's such an active little kid, we needed an outlet for her energy this winter! 
2. Her "Who Loves Bethany?" book that Aunt Tracee made. In it are pictures of her family--aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents--most of whom are all holding her. It's scrapbooked so cute and laminated, and Bethany really enjoys looking at the pictures and saying everyone's names!
3. Table and chair set! Bethany's grandparents gave her a small table and four little chairs. Bethany loves this ("My seat! My table! My seat!") and uses it to eat, color and everything else! (I dropped the table on my small toe while assembling--it's solid wood and we were afraid my toe was broken. Thank goodness it's not, just bruised pretty badly. Bethany now says, "Mommy toe, owie. Hurt.")
4. Her blocks. She likes to throw them. We'll have to work on this to prevent serious head-clunking. 
5. Her "Doodle Pro" magnetic drawing board thingy. She loves to "Lee-da-lee" with it and we are hoping for increased sacrament meeting reverence as a result.
We had a good Christmas, but we're now looking forward to the new year! Not to contradict Michael McLean, but we do not "cry the day we take the tree down." We get those decorations down the day after Christmas (leaving them up makes them seem like a Christmas ghost town, we think) and we even have most of the pine needles vacuumed up, thanks to our new vacuum cleaner. (We had to buy a new one after our old one exploded--yes, I said exploded!) We like the season, but we also like getting back to normal! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
