WARNING...LONG POSTING AHEAD!
So I'm FINALLY back for a Holiday Update. We had a good Holiday, even though I felt crappy most of the time. I actually am starting to have a few good days here and there, so hopefully I'm at the tail end of the sickies!
My Christmas Montage begins where all Christmas festivities begin at our house, and that is at Thanksgiving. We had a great time with all, and I mean ALL the Brinkerhoff's at our house for Thanksgiving! We were crowded but we had a delicious meal and lots of fun hanging out, watching Nacho, playing football and going to downtown 'Cago for the Christmas Tree lighting. We rode the train downtown and were able to see the tree lighting, go to Johnny Rockets for some grub, go to the "disturbing" (according to Colton) American Girl Doll store, go to the Hershey Chocolate store and then walk down Michigan Ave. It was so much fun and got me in the Christmas spirit! A HUGE shout out to all the Brinks who travelled so far to get here. WE LOVE YOU!
Next was the fun of the first, and so far only, snowfall of the season. It was freezing cold but the kids LOVED sledding down the hill behind our house. The first day they were out there for probably 2 hours. Needless to say there was a ton of Hot Chocolate being prepared and drank that week.
Then came Natalie's Birthday party at "Club Libby Lu's." It was the first year she's had a party with friends and they all had a blast dressing up, getting their hair, nails, and make-up done. The one negative thing about the party is that the dress up clothes were very immodest so most of the girls just put on the dress-up sparkly pants and a Libby Lu's t-shirt or their own shirt. I was so proud of all the little LDS girls who knew their mommies wouldn't like them showing their tummies or wearing tube tops and short skirts!
And what is Christmas without the Gingerbread house constructing. We had a Gingerbread house making party with the VavKomen's (friends from church). The kids had a blast sticking the candies on and I tried my hardest not to "micro-manage" the decorating. For those who don't know, I have a tendency to do that. I think our house turned out better without my micro-managing! The kids did a great job.
FINALLY Christmas arrived. The VanKomen's came over on Christmas Eve (sorry no pictures of that) and we had a yummy turkey dinner, great conversation and of course lots of fun. There was a great memory made when the fire department showed up because our smoke detector, which is tied to our Alarm System, went off because a little (or a lot) of Turkey drippings were dumped in the bottom of the oven. (I won't name names, just know it wasn't me who dumped the juice) The firefighters were great sports, despite the false alarm, and even turned on the lights on the truck for the kids when they left!
And the crowning event was Christmas morning. The kids loved every minute of opening their presents and were very pleased with what they received. It was awesome to have Mom and Dad here and we thank them for coming to spend Christmas with us! On Christmas Day night we flew with them to Phoenix and spent a great week with them there. I didn't take my camera though so no pictures of that either.
We've been home for a week now and have just been getting back into a normal routine. How wonderful it is to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior every year, and have the opportunity to be surrounded by loved ones. Enjoy the Montage!
