Holiday Recap

Pardon my absence for the past few weeks (other than the brief posts I included so as not to abandon you all completely). We have been having a blast with Phil's family here for the holidays. We kept ourselves very busy and entertained to the fullest. I think the weeks after Christmas are the most depressing ones of the year. It's a bummer knowing we have to wait an entire year for Christmas to be here again. I'm glad we made the most of the season this year with the Holmes crew. Here are some of the things we have been up to.

Sledding. We did A LOT of it. Phil fabricated a righteous sled out of an old car hood and two bucket seats that he bolted on to the underside of the hood. We pulled it around behind the 4-wheeler and had a grand old time, minus the stench of exhaust and snow flying in our faces. It was definitely one of the highlights of the past weeks.
(Pictured: Hillary, Phil, me and Lilly all dressed up to go sledding. Lilly did not sled, she just can't pass up a good chance to slip into a picture!)

Every year we have a Christmas program, complete with musical numbers and narration. This year, we dressed all the grandkids up in character. Jack, Henry and Owen were the three wisemen, Gracie was an angel and Lilly was Mary. (Note to ourselves: this should not be done near bedtime in the future). This was the only picture we got that did not include a crying child. Needless to say, we whisked them right off to bed after the photo opps and continued the program in peace.

Gramma Pam got all the babies Christmas pajamas. And as much as Phil protested it, I took plenty of pictures of them in full attire. I love the hats, and every child has to have some sort of picture you can use against them in their teenage years, right?

Christmas morning was a Christmas extravaganza, to say the least. There were toys and presents everywhere! The boys really cleaned up this year, and a high standard has been set for future Christmases. Luckily the babies won't remember anything next year and we'll trick them into thinking that Santa is a modest gift-giver!

We went down to Oak City to ring in the New Year, where we did more 4-wheeling and sledding. Other than a few minor injuries (I rammed myself head and back-first into a log), we had ourselves an exceptionally great time.

(Robby, Mel, me and Phil getting ready to sled down the hill.)

(Me, Phil and Hillary tripling on the 4-wheeler. It's most likely illegal, but nonetheless a great time and much preferred over being pulled behind on the car hood, as fun as that was.)

I would be lying if I said our New Year's Eve was uneventful or humdrum. In fact, I think everyone in the family can say it was one of the most memorable New Year's parties of our lifetime! Hillary organized a Showcase Spectacular (not to be confused with a Hidden Talent Show), where we all showcased random talents and/or abilities from our past. The highlights were Casey acting out the famous scene from A Few Good Men (and self-muting the cuss words), Mom and Dad performing both a Hawaiian Luau song and retro dance moves that they used to do at parties, Mel and Mary singing "High Hopes", Robby rapping "Books, Check 'em Out", Hillary performing her Junior Miss routine, and Phil and I dancing to the Scissor Sisters. Perhaps one day these showcased talents will all be available online, but until then you'll have to use your imagination.