Snapshot of two Christmases

It was a wonderful Christmas this year.
With all our schedules going here and there my family decided to have Christmas on the 22nd. It was quite the reverse from what I grew up with. With everyone needing to get off work we'd planned on dinner at 6:00pm and then presents after. Growing up we opened gifts, ate candy all morning while playing with toys and dinner at 2:00pm. It seemed that everyone was running behind and we didn't sit down at the table until 7:30pm. Dinner was extra tasty though.
You know how every year there's always that one gift that you look at and smile and say thank you very much but really have no idea what it is or why you got it? I didn't get any of those this time around. Of all the geeky things in the world that I could like, my sister got me a shower caddy since our shower doesn't have enough shelves for all my girly products. Really you don't understand, every time I give Arwen a bath I have to take all my stuff out of the tub and put in the sink. (The tub is flat by the way.) Now it's clean all the time, and for those of you who know I love it when things are clean. And for those of you who have been pregnant it's near impossible to keep anything clean with a toddler and while watching other kids and being pregnant.
Anyway. By the time Christmas eve came around the anticipation was pretty much gone. We went to church and I was able to sit in a Christmas eve service for the first time in three years! It was so much fun. Pastor Bill used some magic flash paper in his illustration. I wanted to whisper "Holy smoke Batman" but I wasn't sitting next to anyone who would feel it as deeply as I. The 6pm service had 38 kids and the 8pm had 4. I was thankful that I was helping at the 8pm.
Christmas morning Chris had to work so I spent time with my family and got to play with my "Santa" gift and stocking. After work we drove up to Idaho Falls for Christmas with Chris' family minus Cindy and her husband Pete. We played Apples to Apples, a truly wonderful game. Arwen got a Tickle Me Elmo. After people pushing his buttons a few times my little 17 month old flipped him over, ripped open the Velcro back and tried to pull the voice box out. Maybe she'll like it when she's older.
Yesterday mom, Sarah and I went shopping. Mostly looking around but I did snag a great deal. I like to buy shirts from DownEast Outfitters because they are so long and can last the entire pregnancy. The ones I found, usually $14.99 on sale for $5 and then you can take off another 40%! Fantastic! I was going to buy 3 but my cute little mom took them and bought them for me. She's such a blessing!
Well, Chris got an Xbox 360 and has asked me to come play so goodnight blog world.