Day 1 with the CA DJ Cousins!

Unbelievably, the entire Christmas break is over and done with and the children went back to school today. I went back to shopping. It’s true. My mother has been feeding all of us for 12 days and my fridge was very empty of everything except for leftovers from the turkey dinner I made on the Sunday before Christmas. I went to Costco today and NO JOKE – the “return” line was OUT THE DOOR AND DOWN THE SIDEWALK! For those of you who know the area, I parked by Starbucks. Seriously. I would have skipped the whole thing had it not be a beautifully sunny day! Saving $4 on TP is just. not. worth. it.

Anyway, now it is time for me to daily try to edit pictures and write clever posts about our Christmas break. Whether or not I’ll remember to blog every detail remains to be seen, but this much must be said: it was awesome. Cousin time for the girls always is. And family time for me always is. And Christmas always is.

Sure, we continue to have the anxiety of our house situation…and there was the whole fiscal cliff thing…and sicknesses…and there are struggles of many kinds within our family and extended family…and family politics (like any normal family), but we are blessed. And it was awesome.

The day my baby bro (who is, as of today, now on the “wrong side of the 30’s”) and his family arrived, it was pretty tough to keep the girls from asking, “How much longer until we can see them?” even though every one of them can tell time for themselves…so we did some fun things…like cut paper snowflakes!

And I didn’t take too many pictures that first evening together…mostly I just tried to talk to my bro & SIL and Ed & my parents and let my nephews warm up to me. From the few pictures I did get, it appears we ate something chocolate, which my youngest nephew thoroughly enjoyed. Oh yes, I remember. It was the “Crazy Good Chocolate Chip Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars” that Sarah baked. And then he had a bath!