Christmas, New Years, and playing in CA!

Christmas morning we love to torcher our children.

First we make them wait until a designated time before they are allowed to go downstairs and look at their presents.
Second we make them eat breakfast and get dressed before they are allowed to open anything under the tree.
And last but not least all gifts under the tree are opened one at a time in age order from the youngest to the oldest.

This Christmas we stayed home until the Tuesday after Christmas and so Christmas day was spent playing with toys and enjoying a yummy meal with my sister Karen, her family, and a family from church. We had a great day, and to make the day even better, Chad found out last minute that he wouldn't have to go into work Christmas day. Merry Christmas to us.

The Tuesday after Christmas, the kids and I piled into the van and drove over to California. Several of my siblings were planning to be there and so grandma and grandpa's home was filled with lots of fun and chaos. (Only Carrie and Karen's families weren't able to come and we missed them tons)

Grandma likes to plan fun activities and so every day is a new adventure. We went to Chuck E Cheese, the movies, Balboa, played lots and lots of games, and ended our stay with several trips to Disneyland. For those of you who enjoy strategy games, Dominion and Ascension were the games of choice this holiday season.

New Years day we made a feast of a breakfast with puff pancakes, donuts, eggs, bacon, and juice. After gorging ourselves, Cindy and I have started the first week of the new year trying to follow a plan that includes healthy eating, calorie counting, and exercise. We are both trying to get back into shape and for some reason the older you get, the harder loosing weight becomes, but so far so good. We will see how things go over the next several weeks. Happy New year and here's to an incredible 2011.