Christmas Break, 2011 !

Oh ,my poor, little blog, you've been quite neglected, haven't you? Well, we shall remedy that right here and now, starting with a post about Christmas! I packed up my bags.....more like jammed them full.....(I don't travel light for Christmas Break, okay!)....and flew home on the 15th. Treana was so kind as to give me a ride to the airport, and Amanda accompanied us. Amanda (one of my roommates) was unable to return to CBU for the second semester of this school year and so that was my last day with her. It was nice that she got to stay for the weekend (she generally went home for the weekends) so as to visit with Treana and I before she left and we went on break. The flight was uneventful, other than the fact that I left my motion sickness pill at the scanning/security place and thus had to do without it. I sat inbetween an nice old man and a lady who seemed to be in her 30's, also nice. The middle seats were all that were left, so I chose to sit between those two, since they seemed nice. (I don't like being smashed between two strangers, okay?!) The lady was obviously sick with a cold though....so I tried to not breathe the air around her....a rather difficult task when sitting right next to her and her germ-y air. My daddy picked me up at the airport and then I was home. It was so good to be home and be with my family and friends. Before Christmas, my break consisted of sewing, crafting, and more sewing.....along with sleeping. I made my mom a nice neck wrap, and made several other rice heat packs for some friends as gifts. I also made my mom some nice smelling bath salt and some peppermint body scrub for Colette, *Jane*, and myself.

On Christmas Eve, we went to my Omi's house, a tradition we've done for......well, as long as I can remember. There was pizza, and lots of snacks! (the food is the best part, right?) My aunts and uncles and cousins on my dad's side were all there as well, and we had a nice time visiting. Then we opened presents, to the delight of all the kids. Eventually it was time to leave though, and we loaded up all our new Christmas 'loot' into the car, and headed home.

Christmas Day, we got up and opened stockings and presents! Yes, we are quite spoiled and blessed.....and we love it! Amongst the many gifts I received, I got five new books! Three and one half of them have been consumed with pleasure. After opening gifts, we had a delightful Christmas breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and bacon. Once breakfast was over, however, the best surprise of the day came! My mom announced to us kids that we were going to have a new brother or sister!! Samantha, Rebecca, and I may or may not have screeched very loudly, squealed repeatedly, and jumped up and down with excitement. We are very. very. very. excited. Especially considering we didn't think there would be anymore bundles of joy in the house. The boys were (and are) excited too, but less animated in showing their excitement and pleasure. A mere 'that's cool' came from them. My favorite quote after the announcement was made? Rebecca asked my mom 'Is it going to be a baby?!". It was quite amusing (apparently, her thought train had been that we were going to 'adopt' a child, thus the question. However, it was still very funny! Jackson later on was known to ask if the baby was going to be black!). After the excitement, we puttered around, looking all of our presents over, and then headed down to my grandparent's house, to visit with my mom's side of the family! Once again, there was lots and lots of food (our family is food oriented, obviously. Well, and family oriented, as well). It was a lovely day, visiting with all of the family, and also informing said family about the baby. Us girl's took care of the baby announcing. We also found out that one of my cousins is pregnant as well. It was such a wonderful, blessed day and, in my opinion, the best Christmas ever!