Wow! What a great Christmas break it's been! Here are some of the highlights:
We started off my Christmas break with a trip to the Bass Pro where Myka met Santa Claus for the first time! She wasn't too thrilled about him! I don't think she understook why her parents just sat her down on the lap of some strange guy and started taking pictures. It didn't take long for the tears to come, so that trip didn't last long! However, after meeting Santa, we took Myka out to Rhema Bible College to see all the beautiful Christmas lights! As we drove through, she kept saying, "Ooohhh, pretty!" I don't know how many times she said that! She loved all the lights! Her favorite part was the tunnel of lights and watching the ducks swim in the pond. She would have stayed forever, but it was below freezing wind chills that night, so we didn't stay long. We walked through quickly and then headed home! We showed Myka the bench where her Daddy proposed to me! We plan to take her there every year!
On Christmas Eve Eve, Myka and I baked/decorated Christmas cookies together for the first time this year! She had so much fun! Her favorite thing to decorate with were the sprinkles and m&m's! However, she ate more m&m's than she actually put on the cookies! It was definitely a mess, but so much fun! I'm looking forward to the many more times we will bake together!
On Christmas Eve, we went to my parents where we celebrated Christmas with my parents, grandparents, and sister's family! We had so much fun! Mom cooked a delicious lunch, which I'm sure they will be eating for still several more days! There was so much food! We then opened gifts...which took 2 1/2 hours! I have never seen so many gifts! What's funny is, every year my parents say they are going to cut back...however, every year there are more and more gifts! We truly are blessed! It's amazing the joy I get when I watch my daughter tear open those gifts and see her eyes light up as she sees her new toys! I just want her to always know the real reason of Christmas and the most important gift of all is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! After we opened gifts, most of the family had to call it a night. My grandparents and sister had to leave early because of the crazy blizzard conditions. With God's hand of protection, they all made it home safely! Nathan and I stayed (since we only live 2 miles away) and played Scrabble all evening! I won!!!!! It was definitely a fun day even though we didn't get to play our usual games with the whole gang! I'm just glad everyone was safe and sound!
On Christmas morning, we all slept in and I fixed cinnamon rolls for the family and we opened our gifts to one another, as well as opened gifts from Santa! Myka got a new set of golf clubs from Santa this year! Nathan and I got Myka her very own recliner, which was a huge success! She loves it! I got a new wireless printer and digital picture frame and Nathan got stocked up on clothes! We had a great time watching Myka play with her new toys!
After we finished our personal family gift exchange, Nathan had to go work on the driveway! He shoveled and shoveled and shoveled!!!!! While he cleared the driveway of all the snow, us girls got cleaned up and ready to go to Nathan's parents house for our Nelson Christmas celebration! We were a little later than usual due to the bad weather. In fact, Nathan's brother had to come pick us up in their 4-wheel drive vehicle because Nathan's truck just doesn't do very good on the ice!
Once we got to Nathan's parent's house, we opened gifts and had another great meal! We always say we've eaten so much, we won't have to eat for days...however, we're always hungry in a few more hours! =) The guys had fun playing with some of Myka's new toys...yes, I said Myka's new toys! They played "pig" with Myka's new Fisher Price basketball goal and they raced her new car around the living room! It was fun to watch!
On Saturday, we just enjoyed a lazy day at home. We didn't want to venture out into the ice and snow, so we had a fun day at the house. We took Myka out to play in the snow for her first time. She was not happy at all at first, but she soon began to have fun and didn't want to go inside! She looked like a little eskimo all bundled up out there! We had so much fun. Once we came inside, we just picked up the house, took all the decorations down, and played with all of Myka's new toys!
We are truly blessed with the most wonderful family ever! I am looking forward to this next week at home again with my baby girl! It has been great! In fact, Myka has become quite the Momma's girl this week! I'm just taking advantage of it, because she is usually always wanting her daddy! =) I'm sad Nathan can't spend this week at home with us, but it's another short work week for him too, so it will be fun!
I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and we would like to also wish you a Happy New Year! May God fill your life with as many joyous moments as we shared this year! God is good and He delights in His children's happiness!
Love you all!
