Leading up to Christmas....

A couple of cases of what we think was the flu threw some wrinkles into our pre-Christmas plans, but with a little tag-teaming by Pete and me, we were still able to have days of joy and celebration!

On Saturday night, my cousin Linsey invited us to their new home (now in NC -- yay!), for an evening with many Wray family members, including Uncle Pete and Aunt Lisa down from Pittsburgh.  I so wish I had brought my camera because their house is bee-yoo-ti-ful and was decorated in such a lovely way.  And the food!  None of us were surprised by how gourmet it was (Linsey's reputation has become legendary), but the shear quantities were also enough to amaze.  There was a silver bowl of green beans that was larger than my entire refrigerator -- and that's just one example of about 36.  The evening was a lot of fun, only mildly marred by the fact that an entire glass of red wine (Lamoreaux Landing, of course) was somehow mysteriously flung across the room, drenching area rug, upholstered chair and wall.  (The good update the following day was that hydrogen pyroxide and dish soap was able to remove the stains.)

Sunday morning Pete and Strider drove up to Luray, Virginia to represent our unit in the Frank Family Christmas gathering, while I remained home with the coughing chorus.  They had a great time in a beautiful cabin near the Shenandoah's - -complete with hot tub and all.  Highlights included seeing all of the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, playing the Yankee Swap game, and having some good food.

Meanwhile, here on Christmas Eve, the younger 3 kids and I headed up to my sister's church for their candlelight service.  The 5 minutes of actual candlelight time were the scariest moments of my week!  Making sure my 3 hyper kids with their lit candles didn't light their hair -- or the hair of their half-pint sized cousins sitting next to them, or the seats or the coats -- on fire was a full-press effort.  Singing "Sleep in heavenly peace" wasn't quite the "peaceful sacred and holy" moment it's been for me in the past;  I just couldn't wait to get to the blowing-out-the-candles part.  Why in the world do I let a 3-year old have a lit candle?

Anyway, the rest of the evening was wonderful as we went to the Dreschers, and were shortly joined there by the Clarks and Strider and Pete.

Sage looking adorable and knowing it

 

Can you tell that Colsen was pretty excited in the above 2 pictures?

But James may have been even more so.

We missed having Mom and Dad in town (they are in New Jersey), but I am very blessed to have 2 sisters who are terrific cooks and hostesses, so we muddled through.

And, I also have a brother and sister-in-law who are also great cooks and hosts.... but that is for the next chapter.