December Daily - beyond Christmas :)

I don't know why everyone stops their December Daily albums on December 25. I mean, there are 6 more days in December, aren't there? It may be my OCD that likes to have things complete - but that's ok, right? 

I shared the 26th on the last post - the day after Christmas is just as much a tradition for us as the earlier fun of the month. Then, the 27th sneaks up and sometimes the doldrums sneak in. Does that happen to you? There is such excitement in the days leading up to Christmas, and then when the presents are opened and the plans are complete, I can be left with a feeling feeling a little down. 

This year I chose to embrace the slow-ness and relax a little. I know that the fact that I have a hard time being ok with relaxing is a hard thing for some people to understand. But it is true. Don't get me wrong - I'm not always productive - far from it! But, I am happiest when I have a project or something to do.

Anyway, the 27th brought a little more shopping for after Christmas bargains and then we met Brad's family for lunch. We had planned to celebrate his parents' anniversary the week before, but Bennett's sickness meant that we had to cancel. 

We were lucky to be able to include Chad in our celebration - all the way from Bahrain!

 After our lunch, Bennett wanted to go and buy a surprise for Brad. He bought him a Star Wars apron with is own money. Now they can match when they cook. Again, I love his giving spirit. 

 On the 28th, Bennett had a friend over to play and I just enjoyed the house and the decorations. I always love getting Christmas cards - and displaying them in the kitchen window is one of my favorite decorations.

 On the 29th we went to see Tangled with Nana. Super cute! I have the ticket stubs for my book :)

This is a picture is of Bennett's new tree for his room. This is the first year he's had a tree - and he LOVES it. It's fallen over a few times, but it has survived. There's nothing as great as going to sleep by the lights of a Christmas tree!

 On the 30th Bennett had another friend over to play and mom came over to help me begin to disassemble the Christmas decorations. Always such a bummer to take it all down! Bennett suggested that we leave it all up for the whole year. I thought about it for a minute, but then realized that as Elmo says, everyday can't be Christmas; that wouldn't be such a treat :) 

We rang on the New Year (at 9 PM) with friends at Inverness. Super fun time! We all danced a little and had a great time. 2010 was a great year - filled with blessings too numerous to count. We are excited to see what 2011 has in store for us!