That about sums up our Risch family Christmas this year. My brother Michael got into town in the early morning on Christmas day. We were in Georgia with Todd's parents so he, my parents and my younger brother spent the evening with my aunt, uncle, cousins and friends.
We and the kids got back into town around 4:00 on the 26th. We unloaded the van and then promptly headed over to mom and dad's to start Christmas all over again. My sister Lisa and her family got a late start from Ohio so ended up not getting in until after midnight. The kids couldn't make it that late so I stuck around and waited while Todd took them home to put them to bed. Once they got there it was a matter of hi and goodnight before heading home for bed myself. It had been a long day.
Thursday started out as a nice lazy day of hanging out, playing cards and cutting up. Mom and the kids made bread. Each of the little ones got a piece of dough to kneed, let rise, roll into balls and then bake into buns. They had a lot of fun and stayed pretty clean considering the amount of flour that was used in the process. Thursday night the Russells joined us for dinner and the house was full! We had a family favorite, armadillos, and watched a stand-up comic DVD that Michael had brought. He does a set about Hot Pockets that had us all about wetting ourselves. We were all having a great time except for little Walker, Lisa's oldest. He ended up getting a flu bug and spent the night next to a bowl, if you get my drift. Poor little guy. He would be the first of many.
Friday night was to be our Christmas. Mom and Lisa prepared a Turkey dinner during the day. Later that afternoon Mom, Lisa and I ran to Target to do some last minute shopping. We got lured into the Christmas sales and ended up staying too long, which threw off the whole evening. I needed to run to the grocery store to pick up stuff for what was supposed to be Ryann's birthday party the next morning, so they dropped me off and headed home. By the time they go there the cable guys had finally showed up, late of course, to install something for Dad's new TV. Lisa headed to the back room to do some last minute wrapping and to fill the stockings. Mom stayed in the kitchen to try to get dinner ready and Todd headed back out to pick me up at the grocery store. While on our way back Ryann was the next to get attacked by the bug. Mom was cuddling her when I got home so she passed her off to me and the chaos continued. I'm sure the cable guys were more eager to get out of there than we were to have them gone. It was a bit of a zoo. When the meal was ready and the cable guys had gone we all sat down to a wonderful turkey dinner. Despite everything else my mom can make a great meal and we stuffed ourselves like we were never going to eat again. Thanks mom! After dinner the kids opened there gifts. Ryann was a trooper and was deteremined to open her gifts along with everyone else. She continued to get sick throughout the night, but by morning was pretty much back to her old self.
Saturday was my turn. We came over to mom and dad's for waffles and by the end of breakfast I knew. I spent the rest of the day napping off and on. We headed home early so that I could get to sleep. That afternoon while the kids and I were at mom and dad's Maston came in for a long weekend. The kids were so excited to see him! During the night Todd and Judson joined in the flu fun. Todd will tell you he was on his death bed. I think growing up in a family whose motto while sick was "just because you're miserable doesn't mean the rest of us have to be" has made me appear unsympathetic to Todd because I think he feels I don't believe him so he needs to remind me every few minutes just how bad he feels. It's something we butt heads on. He thinks I'm mean and I think he's a bit of a drama queen. I'm thankful he doesn't get sick very often.
Sunday he and Judson spent the day at home, each on a sofa, napping and watching TV together. I think they really bonded over it. I took Ryann and Maston over to my aunt and uncles for the usual Sunday lunch and football. I barely saw Maston all day. He really enjoys spending time with my younger cousins. They're a bit older than he is so he thinks it's pretty cool getting to hang out with the big guys.
New Year's Eve the boys stayed here to do guy stuff while Ryann and I went back over to mom and dad's to spend the last day with Michael before he went back hom to Seattle. It was a pretty relaxed day. I took him to the airport around 5:00 and then came back home to make dinner for the crew before putting in a movie. Todd and Judson were finally over the worst of the flu. Now we're just hoping we didn't pass it on to Maston and his family.
Today Todd took Maston home while I took a bunch of the Chrimstas decorations down. I finally unpacked the suitcases from our Georgia trip and still have a lot left to do. I guess that's what I'll be doing this weekend.
I'm always sad when the holidays are over. This year is no different. I just love being around family so much, and when they're gone there's an empty place in my heart that's only filled when they're back. I know, sappy, but true!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season with family and friends!
1 comment:
Oh my goodness-- you will always remember this as the sick Christmas! We had one of those a few years back. Sounds like it was good to see so much of your family, though. We enjoyed all of the pictures!
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