Christmas Festivities...A Gazillion Pictures!

This blog has been in the making for quite awhile - a few spare minutes here and there - and now finally it's ready to post! There are a TON of pictures, so I won't be doing much talking in this one. =)

We had a wonderful visit with my family over the Christmas holiday! The days went by so fast we could barely believe it when it was time to pack up and get back on the plane. We did lots of Christmas shopping, visiting, catching up and enjoyed many laughs together. I'm so glad we were able to make the trip!

Like I said, I'll let the pictures do most of my talking:

This is before we left for my parents house. Judy, Jamie and I went to a cookie exchange, so Luke was helping to make the cookies!

And Will learns to climb up on his rocking chair and rock...while standing up on it...Yikes!!!


Let the packing begin! Luke is excited for his trip to Grandpa and Grandma J's house!

The airport: I don't have any pictures of the airport...or the kids on the airplane this time around. On the way out, we were delayed 3 1/2 hours. The kids were fed up and I was about to lose my mind by the time we boarded the plane in Philly at around 8pm...when our original flight time was supposed to be 4:20pm. The kids were well past their bedtime and CRANKY! Thankfully, there was a very nice man that helped me at the end of our wait...which was such a blessing because I was near to losing my mind at that point! =) Once we got on the plane, the kids turned into perfect angels. Which I was eternally thankful for...but I think everyone else on the plane (who had to endure my children's crankiness at the gate for hours) was even more thankful.

We landed and hurried to meet my parents. It was so great to be reunited! We carefully drove home in the icy weather - which had cleared a great deal from its earlier fury of the day - once again, something we were all very thankful for!

We had such an enjoyable time, I can't say it enough! Here are more pictures:

My mom decorated an awesome treat tree! It had treat boxes for the boys to open each day, candy and candy cane ornaments! The boys LOVED it!

Will blowing raspberries...

Luke cuddling with Grandpa at a restaurant.

Mommy cuddling with Will at the restaurant.

Will tickling the Ivory...the next Mozart maybe?

We visited Dad's favorite store - Harley Davidson Motorcycles!

Will enjoying a car ride to the store.

Luke playing in the snow.

We were able to get down and see my grandparents one day during our visit. It was So SO nice to see them again! We had such a lovely visit! We were also able to say a quick "hi" to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Linda on our way out, which was really great too! I haven't seen most of my family since before we left for Germany.

Great Grandpa passing along some wisdom to Luke!

Will is named after my Grandpa, so it was very special to see them together!

I love my Grandpa so much!!!

Great Grandma cuddling with Luke.

I love this picture! My beautiful Grandma and a very happy Will!

I love my Grandma!!!

Later that week, Dad was able to give Luke a trim - Luke was thrilled! He thought it tickled!! A huge change from our early days of haircuts when he'd scream like we were cutting his arm off...

My mom makes the BEST homemade pizza ever! It's always always a request when we come visit. I could have eaten a whole pizza myself! =)

Will enjoying a tasty treat after the church Christmas program.

Christmas Eve:

Making Cookies for Santa...

We were all pretty tired by this time, so we made Santa the packaged cookies. They were yummy...I mean, Santa said they were yummy...=)

Getting ready to bake some chocolate chip cookies!

Aunt Kerri helping Luke put out the cookies for Santa.

Luke putting out a milk sippy for Santa.

I let Luke stay up later than normal to wrap his present to Will...

Here we are making funny faces...ok, just me! =)

Santa's coming tomorrow!

Christmas morning:

Luke was READY for Christmas morning to arrive! When he woke up, I told him that Santa ate his cookies. Luke had to think hard about that one...he wasn't to sure about Santa coming into his house - at least I think that's what I saw processing in his mind. Regardless, he was excited about ripping into the presents.

We ate a yummy breakfast my dad prepared, then read the Christmas story. After that we let the kids open some gifts and start playing with some of their toys. Then we'd open gifts for awhile. Then they'd open gifts...it worked out well! We all had a great time of fellowship, giving and receiving!

Mommy and Will listening to the Christmas story...well, I think this was right before we read the Christmas story...

The boys tearing into some gifts:

Dad opening a present:

Mom opening one of her gifts.:

Aunt Kerri reading one of Luke's new books:

This was such a cool gift. My mom scrapbooked this picture of our grandparents, parents and us. It was really really cool! Here is mine:

Here is Kerri's:

Stockings!

We had so much fun!

After our fun festivies, we prepared our tranditional Turkey Christmas meal. Sooooo yummy! Then I had to pack up and early the next morning we were back at the airport. The time went by so quickly! I'm so glad we were able to go, it was so so so wonderful!

After we got back on the 26th, we had Christmas with everyone at home and with Chris on the webcam:

Luke and MeMe opening a gift for Daddy to see!

Webcams are great!

Will getting some fun instruments.

Luke gets a CARS chair and a baseball mitt!

Will loves his Sing and Dance Stage.

The pups got in on the fun too!

Here was Luke's big gift! It's an Imaginarium (sp) Train Table. It fits all of his wooden Thomas Trains and it was an unbeatable price...we got a steal on this one! He LOVES it! Will even loves it! It gets A LOT of attention from the boys every single day.

This picture cracks me up! How many of us does it take to put together a baby toy? =)

This was one of the last presents Will opened up...and he was JUST getting the concept of opening a gift!

And last but not least - Mom Judy, Jamie and myself!

So that's our Christmas festivities in a nutshell!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I'll post more later, but here are a few Christmas pictures in the meantime!

My Angels

I wish I had more time to blog, but things are just very overwhelmingly busy right now. So, until I can sit down and write out a new update blog, here are some pictures!

The boys looking dapper in there "Sunday clothes."









Luke's "angelic" look...

Luke was in the children's Christmas program. His Caravan class helped make up the "Angel Band." He may look super serious in these pictures, but he was actually really enjoying himself. He was taking it all in the entire time! After we sat down, he asked to "do it gin (again)?"

We will be heading out to my parents house next week! We are super excited! I'll make sure to post pictures from our trip while we're out there.

Until Then...

Hap-Hap-Happy Holidays!

I guess since I’ve been called out, I must answer…thanks honey!

If you have ever deployed you know the holiday seasons usually suck out here. I’ll give the Army credit- they try real hard, but it’s just not the same and everyone knows it. The best you can really muster is to create a nice holiday atmosphere and throw some turkey at the troops and call it a day. It’s been tough to really get in the holiday spirit out here. A few trees and lights have gone up and there are a few more Christmas-y AFN commercials, but there is just no way to truly get in the holiday spirit.

We had Thanksgiving just like everyone else…only earlier. The feast-o-plenty was right at lunch time, which is just a little too early for my liking. We ended up going at around 1pm (aka 1300 if you’re not into the whole brevity thing), and from reports I heard from the soldiers before we went, there was quite a line. Turns out they were absolutely right. The DFAC here is gargantuan, and the line stretched for a long, long ways. It ended up taking 45 minutes to get through, but in the end it was a fun time. They had soldiers dressed like pilgrims and indians, random paper mache sculptures (made by our far-eastern third country national DFAC workers, so the designs ranged from weird ducks to crazy looking dragons). They even broke out the real silverware and plates for the occasion- we usually only get plastic ware.

Lunch itself was not bad. It was turkey loaf, ham, and a few cafeteria-style sides. In all, a meal is what you make it, so we all had a good time. Here’s a couple pictures:

This is the line inside...it ends on the far wall, way way back. The line outside was even longer.

My delicious KBR Thanksgiving...

I got really wasted on sparkling cider.

Since Turkey Day, it’s been back to normal for the time being. Same work schedules, same routines. I did a little Christmas shopping over the past few weeks…first online, and then at the bazaar they have over at one of the larger camps that surround the airport. My online shopping was mostly for the boys, and I spent WAY more than I would normally, but hey, it’s Christmas and I’m thousands of miles away from my sons…sue me if I spoil them a little.

The bazaar was pretty nice here. It’s basically a little warehouse where local vendors can come and sell Iraqi “stuff” to the soldiers. They have all sorts of random things there- crafts, rugs, furniture, electronics, souvenirs…you name it they sold it. One thing that really stood out (mostly because I am a huge cheapskate) was how expensive everything is now. Back in 2003 when I first deployed, I got a bunch of souvenirs for one low price. Five years later and change, these guys have really picked up on how to make dough off of this little occupation we got going on over here. Haggling works to an extent, but the start price is so far past the actual value that you’re still paying through the nose.

One other thing that caught my attention was a little memorial they had in the warehouse that was dedicated to the vendors who had died. All of them were killed in very tragic ways- IEDs, assassinations, etc., simply because they were working with the Americans. It was very sobering, and a reminder of how much these guys sacrifice to make a living. Even though I felt like what they sold was a little pricey, I guess it put things in perspective and made me a little more giving. It is the season, isn’t it?