Nine Days of Christmas

I feel like I have just recovered from all of the holiday craziness enough to be able to write about it. Our Christmas tree is down (again), and my house is sparsely decorated, which is all very refreshing. But Christmas was great. We were so blessed to spend so much time with our family. We were showered with gifts, and the kids did extremely well being out of any sort of routine for well over a week.

We started Christmas early, going up to Minnesota on the 21st, staying for the big Whaley shindig on the 23rd, and heading back to Iowa on Christmas Eve.

It was so great to have extended family time in Minnesota. All of the Bouskas were home, including Julie from London—who graciously slept on my parents' couch and was woken up by my kids every morning. And of course, Cousin Bennett was there. My kids love Bennett—especially August who is obsessed with babies.

Isn't this the best photo ever?

The Bouska Christmas is a sacred event. Emails discussing Christmas plans begin in October. This year, our official Christmas celebration included a trip to Macy's in downtown Minneapolis for the "Day in the Life of an Elf" display. It was so fun to watch Penelope love it. The displays have scenes of elves preparing for Christmas, making toys and candy, receiving letters to Santa. And everything moves. It's really magical.

Penelope thought it would be good to pose with all of the mannequins at Macy's.

That event was followed by a big Chirstmas dinner by my Mom, and presents.

The rest of my family worked on Monday, so we went to the Mall of America. I have a special affection for the MOA because I practically lived there in high school. I wasn't in many sports of extra-curricular activities, and I pretty much just remember spending a lot of time at the mall. I didn't realize the monstrosity of the place because that was my normal. But I hadn't been there in years, and it was so fun to take my own family there.

Penelope and Tim got to go on some pretty fun rides:

And August wanted to get in on the fun, so he got to ride with Dad and Penelope on this truck!

Penelope loved playing at Lego Land.

On the 23rd, we celebrate Christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was such a great time catching up with everyone. And my kids looked super cute, too!

We have an epic white elephant gift exchange at this party. As Julie said, "Dad won Christmas," after getting the Jolly Green Giant so his grandkids could play with him when they visit (mom was not quite as excited about that), and he was regifted the pig that my mom tried to get rid of as her white elephant. My dad loves this pig. He's a funny guy.

After our kids were thoroughly worn out from my family, we drove to Grinnell, Iowa on Christmas Eve for the Laehn Christmas. Unfortunately, I don't think there were any photos of this event, except this one from the drive down:

At the Laehns', we ate great meals, lots of Christmas cookies, and cheese (the Swiss are serious about cheese). And the kids had tons of fun playing with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Tom. We went to Christmas Eve church as a family and sang every Christmas hymn possible. We were spoiled with gifts on Christmas morning. And we played a few hands of poker, which I lost miserably.

We finally returned home late Christmas evening and started unpacking and reorganizing all of the stuff we had accumulated on our travels.

But family time was not quite over. Beth, Brandon, and Bennett came down the next day, planning on attending the Faithwalkers conference that was held in Des Moines. We had tons of fun with them, most noteably at Bass Pro Shop, and also got to meet a couple of their friends from their church in Bloomington.

In total, it was nine intense days of family, and that's what the holidays are for.