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Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was lots of fun for all of us. I finally downloaded the pictures from our camera that I had taken over the break and discovered there were 105!! Don't worry, you won't have to look at all of them. I'll just share some highlights.

We were scheduled to fly out of Des Moines to Seattle on Christmas Eve, so we had a family Christmas party on the morning of the 23rd. We had cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast and opened presents (all except Santa's gifts, of course, because he would be delivering out presents to Grandma's house). The girls loved their hula hoops and bathrobes. In fact, when we finally got dressed that morning, they chose to wear their new bathrobes on top of their clothes for the rest of the day.
The kids also loved their Red Rock Elementary T-shirts from Grandma and Grandpa Gudgel. In fact, the 3 out of 4 of our kids are wearing their T-shirts today, too. Makayla made a very cute thank you card for Grandma and Grandpa, but I can't find it anywhere. I have yet to finish unpacking my suitcase, though, so maybe it is still under some of the rubble in my bedroom.
Christmas Eve was spent driving to Des Moines, flying to Chicago, flying to Seattle, and driving to Anacortes. It was a long day, but the kids were wonderful.
Christmas day was a lot of fun. The kids loved their presents from Santa and Grandma and Grandpa Mergenthaler. They were happy and busy all day playing with the cousins and playing with their new toys.
After Christmas in Anacortes, we headed up to Everett (our old home) for 2 days. We went to our old ward. The kids were so excited to see all of their old friends. Rick and I enjoyed seeing everybody too. It almost felt like we had never left--except for the fact that people were actually happy to see us and they probably wouldn't be happy or surprised to see us if we were really always there every Sunday.
One of the highlights of our visit to Everett was seeing the Davis family. They are such good friends and a wonderful family. We had a lot of fun having dinner, visiting, and playing games on Sunday and then again on New Year's Eve.


One thing I miss about the Northwest is the beautiful scenery--especially the beach. The kids miss the beach too. They had a hard time not jumping right in the water even though it was definitely too chilly to be swimming.
Seeing the cousins was a ton of fun for our kids. All of us miss having family nearby here in Iowa.

Other favorite parts of our trip for me: no responsibilities (as far as school and church volunteering, etc.), warmer weather (when we flew back home to Iowa, the temp was -2), playing games with Anjee and Jeremy (boy, do we miss them!), and spending time together as a family. All of us had a difficult time getting back on the plane to Iowa because we miss our Washington friends and family so much. It truly was a nice vacation. Thank you for a wonderful visit!

Comments

Jerry Davis said…
We are so glad you could come and visit us. It was the highlight of our Christmas.
January 12, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Angie said…
I'm sorry we missed you. We were in AZ visiting family for Christmas. I won't tell Josh you were here. He would be too sad.
January 15, 2010 at 4:19 PM
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