It is Sunday, January 3rd, 8:45pm. We just got home from the last family party we'll have for a while and Rob is upstairs singing lullabies to the children. I am downstairs staring at the mess of toys, clothes, books, and shoes that are everywhere, basking in the soft glow of the Christmas lights, remembering our wonderful holiday. Tomorrow life will go on... Christmas decorations will come down, the mess will be gone (hopefully), and everything will return back to it's schedule. This has been a great last month, but I am ready to move on and start getting organized again.
A few fun memories: New years eve, the 4 of us went to the Gateway to do a little shopping. They had some activities for kids, so my kids made masks and noisemakers. Then Rob and the kids rode the train to Layton, where I picked them up and we headed to Gamma and Gamps. Tonya and Jared also joined us as we did the count down. Gamma even had confetti! The kids loved it... although they were a little confused when we had our toast of home-made grape juice and sprite. "Where's the toast?" they both wanted to know. Then the kids were off to bed. Four hours later, we had the real count-down, this time with Mary and Shaun, too. Gamps even stayed up and played games until 1 or 2am!! (Okay, he did have a little nap before that, but I was still impressed). Plus, Jared was so hilarious in the wee hours of the morning. The next morning we had a big breakfast before we all split up into different directions... J & T to Chicago, Mary down to SLC, and we headed home to drop off stuff and continue down to South Jordan. Oh, the fun didn't stop. With Rob's mom and dad and Lorie and Manny in town from Houston, we just kept going. The kids got their Christmas presents... which they LOVED! Kyle wouldn't get off of his new bike (although it was hard to ride around on carpet inside) and Bekah has already slept several nights in her new princess sleeping bag. So thanks.
Then last night, after a jam packed day of bridal shower, primary activity, fundraising at a local boutique, and then dinner with the Franklins, we stayed at the Franklins apartment playing games until 1:30am. Luckily, the kids have spent the last 2 weeks sleeping somewhere besides their own bed, so they are pretty good at it. Then tonight, we were once again having fun at a big Bassett family gathering (which was also delightful).
It was so much fun to just hang out and stay up late playing games and talking... both with my family and the Franklins. We used to do that all the time the first 4 yrs of our marriage! What happened? Ever since we moved here to Utah, we just haven't really done that much. And although I would like to blame it on others, I think it is really the other additions that happened about the same time we moved here: My beloved Thing One and Thing Two. Hmm... maybe I'll make that one of my goals for 2009.
