Christmas Week in Review

As you may have noticed, I have not blogged in a couple of weeks...and a busy couple of weeks it has been! I would love to go into detail about all of the fun things that we have done, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet!

Pink Eye and the New Basement

Since we knew new toys were going to be filling our house, we decided that we should really make our basement into Carter's playroom. After moving out a couple pieces of furniture and rearranging, our basement seems like a whole new space. It's perfect for Carter to play or watch Elmo while Cary and I can do the laundry or be on the computer at the same time. We've definitely spent more time down here than we had in the past! And just after we got it all set up, Carter came down with pink eye! Yikes!

Christmas Eve at the Priestley's

So on Christmas Eve day we drove to Guthrie Center to spend the day with my family. Carter and Katelyn both took naps while the adults opened their presents, ate some appetizers and just talked. Once the kids woke up, they opened their presents and the fun really began! Katelyn got a Dora big wheel among other things and Carter got a fun activity tent, puzzle, fridge toy, clothes, etc. etc. The kids were definitely spoiled and the sunroom was a disaster with wrapping paper, boxes, and parts of unassembled toys. It was just so much fun to watch Carter and Kate be so excited about new toys! We ate a great pork loin dinner after 6:00 and just continued to watch the kids play. About 9:00 we all packed up and headed home. It was a very fun day and I just know these two kids are going to have so much fun in future years too!

Christmas Morning at Home

We woke up Christmas morning and Carter, Cary and I went downstairs to open presents. It was really relaxed and quiet and special. It didn't seem real that we could have a 1 year old that now could enjoy Christmas, when last year he wasn't even born yet. We gave Carter a car port with cars and a helicopter, bath toys, and a big book of Babys First 100 Words. I gave Cary all clothes - and only one of them actually fit. Nice, huh? Cary gave me some great clothes and a big surprise - a Kitchen-Aid mixer. I was really excited!!! We ate cinnamon rolls (the Pillsbury kind...which for some reason didn't rise in the oven) and fruit and then just watched Carter as he played with his new toys.
Christmas Lunch at the McMurray's

After Carter's morning nap, we went to Cary's aunt and uncle's house in Waukee. This is the big Coppola Christmas bash with about 50 people and a kitchen full of food. Cary's grandma gave Carter this big stuffed horse that is just so cute! We had a very nice time with Cary's extended family. This is definitely one of Cary's favorite Christmases - I think being there with everyone reminds Cary of his childhood! Once it was time for Carter's afternoon nap, we headed back home.
Christmas Night at Grandma Priestley's

Only a few hours after we had left the Coppola Christmas, we were back in the car on our way to Lake Panorama for the Priestley extended Christmas. This was at my Grandma Phyllis's house. There are now 8 great-grandchildren (6 boys and 2 girls) and the kids all have fun together. We had a nice dinner with Grandma's famous twice-baked potatoes, opened presents and then played Bingo. Just as we were getting ready to leave that night, Carter fell and bumped his head on the piano bench - perfect timing for his birthday the next day!!
Carter's 1st Birthday - December 26th

I don't like that I'm just including Carter's big day in the middle of this long blog - it really deserves it's only blog post - but it falls in the middle of all of our Christmas parties. So Carter's birthday was a Luau theme. We thought people would be ready for some light summer food after celebrating Christmas. On the menu was grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, Asian cole slaw, fruit kabobs, baked beans, chips, cake and pina coladas. I was a little concerned about having enough room for so many people (the guest list was right at 30), but it was just fine! The temperature was in the 50's so with the help of some propane tanks, some of the guys sat on the back deck while Cary grilled. The kids played in the basement and the adults seemed to have a nice time too. When it came time for Carter to eat his cake, he didn't disappoint! We had a special cupcake just for him and boy did he dig into that frosting! There was cake everywhere! The cutest part was in the middle of eating his cupcake he looked up at the 20 people starring at him and raised his hands up like "Soo Big!" Then he clasped his hands together, looked up and smiled so big. It was adorable!!! Cousin Joey helped Carter open his presents which was too cute. One of the most meaningful gifts was the toybox that my dad made for Carter. It has a perfect home in our basement and I know Carter will love keeping all of his toys in it!! All in all, the day was great. I just wish we'd remembered to turn on the video camera!!!

Christmas at the Sorensen's - December 27th

The day after Carter's birthday bash, we drove back to Guthrie (yep - this was our third trip in 4 days) to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. Unfortunately, Carter didn't nap well that day and so he ended up falling asleep at my grandparents' by 7:00. That actually turned out to be nice for Cary and I - we were able to just relax and enjoy the evening. My cousins from Wyoming, Nebraska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma were there...most of whom had never met Carter. So it was fun for them to play with him a little bit.

Simpson Christmas - December 29th

On Monday, Cary watched Carter while I went to Rachel's house and hung out with Rachel, Emily and Angie. We had a nice italian dinner and just spent the evening around her kitchen table, drinking wine, eating and laughing. It was so fun to see the girls. We're all in different stages of our lives - one single, one with a serious boyfriend, one married, and me - married with a child. So, although our lives are all so different, it was fun to see how we're still the same too! We just wish Laina, Amy, Steph and Autumn could have been there too!!!

New Year's Eve at the Murphy's

We rung in 2009 at Brett and Jenny's house. It ended up just being the four of us for most of the night (plus our babies), but we had a great time. Carter and Riley went to bed around 9:00, and that left time for us adults to play Wii, drink our drink of choice, and just talk. The time just flew by and I was shocked when it was already midnight. So far, 2009 has been great!

Coppola Bake-Off - New Year's Day

Holly organized a cinnamon roll bake-off since Bobbi and I both got Kitchen-Aid mixers for Christmas. You can check out Holly's blog for a more detailed description of the day, but since this blog is already so long, I'll sum it up. Kelly had a cold and came a little late, so it was just Holly, Bobbi and I participating. We each brought a cinnamon roll recipe (Cary found mine online) and then we all spent hours making our rolls. It was really fun to figure out how to use our mixers, learn how to scald milk, try to dissolve yeast, and have a little friendly competition. All of the rolls were great - and different - and...my rolls won! Like I said, it was just a recipe from the internet so I really can't take any credit...but I did win an extremely cute apron that I'll be sure to wear!!! Thanks for putting that all together, Holly!!!