Brrr...it's cold. For the last few days the temperature's been around -15 to -23. We didn't get much snow for Christmas, just enough to cover the ground so we can say, we had a white Christmas. Sarah and I attended the welcoming of the Holiday Train one evening which travels from city to city, making short stops to officially start the holiday season and get people into the spirit of Christmas. It's fully decorated with thousands of bright lights from top to bottom, from the first wagon to the very last. Sarah has never been able to get so close to a train, she had a blast. One of the wagons was set up as a stage for live Christmas music. We sang along and danced together. An appearance by Santa Clause was the main attraction. After more singing and dancing, the train slowly started rolling away to get to the next town, where more people were anxiously waiting. Sarah and I waved goodbye to Santa who was standing on the last wagon and watched as the lights disappeared in the night. For the next few weeks, this experience was all she could talk about. Everyone she met (even strangers) got to listen to her story about...big choo choo train...pretty lights...dancy, dancy with mommy...Santa Clause bye bye on choo choo train.
This year we decided to celebrate Christmas morning at our house. Grandma, Jeff and Jenny, Denton and Joanie showed up early with tons of presents. It took a while to get through them all. While everyone was satisfied with their gifts, no one was as happy as Sarah and Christine. They totally got spoiled! Toys, toys and more toys. Peter prepared an amazing dinner for us. Stuffed turkey and ham with all the fixings and Jenny's cheese cake for dessert. Yummy!
We also threw a party for new year's eve. Christine spent the night at my mom's house for the first time which went surprisingly well. She slept right through the night. She's much more independent now that she's able to crawl.
The day after the party, Peter held a poker tournament at our house which attracted about 30 people. It was a full house! Some of our guests had such a good time that they ended up staying for the night. (Driving in their condition would have been a bad idea.)
Now that the holidays are over I can try and relax a bit. Our next adventure will be a vacation to the Dominican in February. Can't wait to kick my feet up and soak up the sun!