Christmas 2008

Wow...I've missed blogland!  Is that sad?  Haha.  So much to update about our wonderful Christmas...I don't even know where to begin!  Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures yet...most of them were taken by the family photographers (my sister, Neely, and my mother-in-law, Carol).  As soon as I get some pictures, I will be sure to post them as well.  To keep this as concise as possible (and due to my obsession with making lists)...  I'll narrow down our fun memories to the following...  

TOP 10 HAPPENINGS FROM A PETERSON CHRISTMAS:

1.  ROTAVIRUS

Ok...so this first one isn't so fun.  I kicked off our holiday break with the oh-so-lovely Rotavirus.  Ugg.  N-A-S-T-Y is the only word to sum it up.  If you don't know what this is, pray that you never do.  Our good friend from college, Brenner, was staying at our house during these couple of days and I didn't get to spend any time at all with him.  I was quarantined to the back of our house and I don't think I left the bedroom one time.  I would just text Ben with what I needed and he dropped it off outside the door...sweet husband. =)  Thankfully, neither Brenner nor Ben got the virus... and after several days of recovery and bleaching every last thing I touched... we finally moved on and were able to enjoy the rest of the holidays.

2. THE MEYERSON SYMPHONY CENTER

My mom, Neely, and I had a fabulous girls night when we went and listened to the Dallas Wind Symphony's Christmas Extravaganza.  It was beautiful and so much fun!  We got to sit in the choir loft behind the orchestra and I truly enjoyed every minute of the program...even our overly excited neighbor sitting next to my sister who whooped, laughed, and gave us her commentary through the entire program.  =)  We got some great pictures at the symphony center... so send 'em on when you can, Neely!

3. PETERSON/FLOYD GAME NIGHT

My family and Ben's family all got together on Tuesday evening for dinner and a VERY competitive double 12's game.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to finish the entire game because Ben's youngest brother, Jeff, was literally falling asleep at the table due to lack of sleep from his camping trip...  so we still don't know who the true winner is.  And just in case you're wondering, it would have been me.  Haha.  In all seriousness, I love that both of our families get along so well and can have fun evenings like that - we are truly blessed!

4. CHRISTMAS EVE

Ben and I spent Christmas Eve with my family this year and had an absolute blast!  We went to the FBC Keller Christmas Eve service where we enjoyed seeing a lot of old friends... then we headed back to my parents house where Mom started a new tradition...  She catered in Hot Damn Tamales for Christmas Eve dinner...YUM!!!  After dinner, we spent the next several hours opening gifts... which brings me to #5 in our list...

5. THE WHITTEN FOOTBALL

...that's right... my Dad got Ben a signed Whitten football...which you can see from the picture he absolutely LOVED!

As usual, both sides of our family did way too much Christmas... I can't say enough how truly blessed we all are.  

6. CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas continued for Ben and I as we moved to his parent's house on Christmas Day.  Again, what a wonderful/relaxing day and an absolute blast!  We started off the morning with a great Christmas breakfast... then spent the next several hours opening even more gifts...  then eating even more food!  Carol cooked a great Christmas lunch/dinner - there was so much food that we couldn't even fit everything on the table... isn't that what you're supposed to do on the holidays??? Haha!  We had a wonderful day and are so grateful for everything!

7. BABY P

...and in case you're wondering... BABY P RACKED UP!!!  This first grandchild (on both sides) won't be spoiled at all! =)

We even got gift cards from Ben's parents and Joe & Candice to get Baby P's bedding made...cannot wait!!!

8. JOE AND CANDICE

Although Christmas was wonderful, we had some bittersweet moments as well... We had to say goodbye to Joe & Candice. (Joe is one of Ben's brothers and Candice is the greatest sister-in-law in the world!)  Joe and Candice moved back to TX in June after 4 years in the San Diego/La Jolla area...and it's been so much fun having them here for the last 6 months...we've been spoiled getting to see them every weekend and hang out whenever we want!   We are very sad that they are leaving this week and moving to NYC for the next two years... but so proud because Joe got accepted to start his MBA at Columbia.  This is such an incredible opportunity for them and we can't wait to visit the Big Apple this spring!

9. MOVIES

We are HUGE movie people... and during the holidays we like to catch up on movies that we may have missed.  Here's a few that we watched:  The Day the Earth Stood Still, Valkerie, Tropic Thunder, The Hulk, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Wanted... and the list goes on... 

10. THE WILDEY'S

We ended the Christmas holidays with a visit from Rex, Jen, and their two sweet boys - Maddox and Lincoln.  It was the first time that all of us got to meet Lincoln since he had been born - what a cutie!  Both of our families got together for the Cowboy game (ugg) and a great steak dinner last night.  The party included Ben and I, my parents, my sister, Lea Wildey, Tyler Wildey, Jen & Jason DeLaPorte (with little Keagan and Kyler, of course), then Rex and Jen (and Maddox and Lincoln).  It's always fun to have this whole crew together... and hilarity always ensues when our moms insist on the annual "kid" picture.  I'll post those when I get them as well, but at what point are you no longer a kid???  We all thought it would end at 30... or when we had kids of our own... but I guess not. =)

If you made it through this entire list...you're a trooper!  We had a lot of fun and made some wonderful, life-long memories... never forgetting the true meaning of Christmas - that our Christ was born in the town of Bethlehem - our Saviour, King, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, and Everlasting Father.  Hope you and your family had a great holiday as well.  Wishing you a blessed 2oo9!