The Holidaze

Today is our first day back to our regular routine, kinda.  We've had a quite a break from school and normal life and it's been great!!!  Christmas found us fairly prepared.....gifts were bought and wrapped, there wasn't much to do to prepare for our family gathering on the afternoon of Christmas and so we were able to slide into the  holiday with little to no stress.

Christmas morning was very nice.  It's funny how it all changes as the kids get a little older.  There's more sentiment and less chaos, everything seems to have more meaning compared to when they are little and it's a full out frenzy.  There wasn't a whole lot under the tree (which doesn't look true, because let's face it, when you have five children to buy for, unless you go to one gift each, it's always going to look fairly large). 

At 3:00 the rest of the family came and it brought our total of people up to 35!!!!  It was insane, but the good Brady Bunch Reunion kind of insane.  Being an only child, I knew I'd never have those reunion moments with siblings, but I did grow up close to my cousins and having the majority of them home with their families was good enough for me.  There was way too much food, it was all way too tastey and it was way too hard not to completely overload ourselves!!  The party lasted through out the evening and we were all exhausted when the goodbyes came.

The second generation cousins got to spend alot great time together throughout the week, with lots of nerf wars, sleepovers and general chaotic fun.  It was precious to see them together.  Since they live far away from here, it's a treat that doesn't occur too often.  We spent New Years Eve with two of my girl cousins and their families and we had a blast.  We played "Loaded Questions" and after the ball dropped we all gathered in a circle and prayed for each other and our upcoming year, also giving thanks for the trials that God had brought each of our families through in 2011.  It's amazing to be apart of a family of believers, to share in the trials and the triumphs, to take it all to the throne of Jesus and simply give thanks.

Now the families are all gone, the trees and lights are packed up and it's time to get back to business.  Today was rough....we had some leftover school work from two weeks ago, and I found myself forgetting how we got through our days!  I'm thankful that I don't have a rigid time schedule to adhere to and that we can take our time getting back into the swing of things.  We have truly been in a "holidaze" for the past two weeks!!!

I pray that each of you had a blessed holiday season and that you are looking forward to what God has in store for 2012!!!  I know that I am!!

*Love and God's blessings
              Lorraine

P.S. I think I'll share some pictures tomorrow highlighting the favorite moments of the past two weeks.  It's gonna be hard to pick just a few so I'll apologize now for overloading you!!