Silent night...and Joy to the World!

Whew! Well, it's not even Christmas yet, but I feel like the holidays have already come and gone. We had a fun and eventful weekend with my sisters and families. Highlights? Jess and I made lefse, Carrie & Jess & I danced with our babies to our favorite Christmas song ("Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus"), Baby Julia laughing at Chloe, and the weekend's culmination of a rousing game of Farm Game. Start to finish, a good weekend. The only down-side was that for most of the weekend, Calla was dealing with Mystery Fever Virus... you know, that high fever that won't go away until I finally break down and take her to the doctor. Well, now I know how urgent care works in Carbondale.

We had early Christmas presents Saturday night. The second-best gifts (in my opinion) were a hand-knit sweater for Calla in Saluki burgundy with snowflake buttons (thanks, Aunt Jess) and a "Free to Be You and Me" CD and book - I love it! I mean, Calla will love it! Brings back memories... "William wants a Doll"..."Parents are People".... "Free to be You and Me." It's so dated, it's back in style. Sure-fire way to turn Calla into a flaming liberal feminist, just like her mom.

But the hands-down, no contest, top gift given in our little pre-Christmas gift exchange was Ben's gift to Jess... an engagement ring. Gotta give the guy props for proposing to a girl in front of her sisters! Not that he was worried about the answer. We laughed, we cried, we drank champagne.

The weekend prior to our big family weekend was Calla's Wiggles and Tunes recital. Basically, we sat on stage, while dads and grandparents all tried to take photos and videos at the same time. Calla was mesmorized by the audience, the big room, the new kids singing along. She paid attention to everything... that is, everything except for the songs we've been singing once a week and daily in the car for the past four months. I thought about posting a video, but it's basically Calla standing or sitting with me, not singing or dancing, then occasionally seeing Joe in the audience and running off the stage to find him. The entire first row kept lunging to keep her from falling headfirst to the floor. Joe did catch a sweet moment on video when I'm trying to discreetly sniff Calla's diaper to discern if that odor was coming from her (it was). Good times.

We have quiet Christmas plans this week - although it will be nice to stop hearing Joe whine about wanting to open his presents early - and then head to Lexington for a visit with Jeri and Josh around new year's. We had such a big dinner last Saturday - still dealing with leftovers - that I think our big Christmas eve dinner just might be Turkey Pot Pie. We love it. I have the ingredients. It makes us happy. Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus.

Calla sharing her new Christmas book with Baby Julia. She did have several lovely moments where she gave Julia (without prompting) a sweet cousin hug, but of course, no cameras were available at that moment.

Getting ready for our big recital to start.

The happy couple - Jess and Ben - and the sparkly ring! We wish them much fun in wedding planning, limited stress with the details, and the patience and humor to know it's just one day. Day 2 starts the real fun.

Merry Christmas to all... and best wishes for peace throughout our world in the new year.