Was that Christmas that just happened?

So I have a serious procrastination problem. I like to blog but if I let it go too long then I get overwhelmed by all the things I wanted to post and just keep putting it off. Granted, our December was a bit crazy with all holiday festivities and also all kinds of random illnesses running through our family, but let's face it - I'm bad at being frequent and short. It is one of my top 5 New Year resolutions, though!

But now I have paid dearly for my laziness. Here's where I will write out all our Christmasy adventures complete with cute pictures of sledding and unwrapping presents and such....oh wait, did I say pictures? Oh yeah, about those pictures...they be gone. They were stolen. Yup, really. This week Jevan took a business trip to Detroit (aptly, the crime capital of America) and had EVERYTHING stolen out of his room. That included his laptop that just happened to have a memory card in it with all our Christmas pictures. Sad huh? If only I'd downloaded those pictures earlier....*sigh*. But I shouldn't complain - Jevan was the one that didn't have underwear for days.

So, shamefully Marie and Jim, this post will have no pictures. Oh yeah - and sorry to Sarah too who says she only reads blogs for the pictures.

Christmas Highlights:
(Long winded because they are being used as a journal entry too - just a word of warning)
Week 1: Getting ready for the ward party that we are in charge of. I have all new appreciation for people in charge of big events. So. Many. Details. Truly a TON of work. We were working on it for weeks before. It was a pretty big stress for us because A) we had never planned anything this big before, B) we were flying completely blind; there was no folder or paper or anything outlining what needed to happen or what worked in the past or what didn’t (I am going to make one for our successors..it is so hard!) and C) we had a pretty lousy committee up until the day of the party. On the day of the party, a couple stepped in that had been Ward Activities leaders a few years back and they ended up being invaluable. I think we pulled it off because of them. We did a Reading-Christmas-Stories-by-the-Fire theme, complete with a living room set-up, a fireplace that you plug in that looks real, and a grandpa reading Christmas stories. It all went reasonably well. We were told to plan for 150 and had over 200 people show up. Luckily, the food held out but we had to scramble to set up more tables and chairs. I had a huge knot in my stomach and was so glad when it was over. It was hard to be in charge and chase down 2 little kids at the same time.

Week 2: Start trying to get ready for Christmas. I did just a little bit of shopping. Grandma Diane had a cookie party at her house and Jane had a blast decorating Christmas cookies with her cousins. I also had some Christmas pictures of the two girls taken in their Christmas dresses. As of today, I still have yet to go to the studio and look at them! By the middle of this week, both the girls start getting sick and all Christmas preparations pretty much stop. We are stuck in the house. I manage to go x-country skiing with my dad one Saturday afternoon which was wonderful. I love skiing with my dad.

Week 3: Girls still in varying stages of sickness. Jevan takes Jane to see the lights at Thanksgiving point with all her cousins. I try one night to meet Marisa and kids to go see the lights at the zoo. Right as we are getting there, an all out blizzard descends on us. We wander for a little while until we are all snowmen and then hop into the car only to wait in traffic for almost an hour because all the roads are crazy. We give up and go to my mom’s house until the roads are clear. At the end of the week, the Christmas madness begins. We took Jane sledding for her first time on that Saturday and she absolutely loved it. She had no fear and would even go down the hill on the sled by herself! That night was Jevan’s grandma’s Christmas party and for the talent show, Jane sang Jingle Bells for everyone (although she was convinced that the chorus was an entirely different song altogether so she refused to sing it after the first verse). Sunday was Christmas with my family up at my sister Steph’s new house. Her house was so beautiful, all decked out in Christmas, so bright and warm and new and wonderful. I have to admit I was so envious! Again there was a talent show and Jane sang Silent Night. All the kids opened up their Christmas jammies that night and we got pictures (that we no longer have…*sigh*).

Week 4: Christmas Eve was with Jevan’s family. We had lots of good food and opened presents. We also threw together a little nativity with any random dress-ups we could find. It was so funny. Jane was an angel straight out of the 60’s, complete with a funky polyester dress and scarf headband. Both the girls got blankets from Grandma Di and Jane loves hers. She sleeps with it every night. Christmas morning we opened presents. Jane’s present from us was a play kitchen which she thought was pretty cool. We gave Allison a bunch of smaller toys to keep her busy. Both girls each got a new outfit and some books. Then we went up to my mom’s house and opened our stockings and the presents to the girls from my parents. My mom gave Jane my old Cabbage Patch doll that I bought when I was in second grade. She cleaned him up and got him some new outfits. Jane loves him. He goes everywhere. She named him Wally (which can be quite confusing because it is so close to Allie…but she is quick to correct me when I get mixed up about who she is talking about). He pretty much stays in his pajamas because she has a tough time dressing him (she can’t even get herself dressed) and for some reason, she likes to keep his little bum exposed, mooning everyone wherever he goes. My mom also gave her my old doll bed and a doll stroller. Jane is in heaven. Wally now eats breakfast and lunch in the chair next to Jane and HAS to have a bib on with food in front of him. When I sing to her at night, I always have to ask Wally what he wants me to sing. It makes me laugh and strips me of my dignity at the same time.

That Friday was another insane day. We had 3 parties all on that day. The day started with all of the extended Woolley clan coming to our house for family pictures. We’re talking 40 people crowded into our living room and downstairs. It was a Woolley reunion for Jevan’s grandparent’s 80th birthdays. Next was a birthday reception at Asian Star. Then my highschool friends had a lunch party. It was so fun to catch up with my friends that I don’t get to see nearly enough. Then it was back home to cook and clean because we were having Jevan’s highschool group of friends over for dinner. It all worked out wonderfully even though it was so busy. Everyone liked the dinner and we did a white elephant exchange in which we gave out my “breastpump” aka clown horn that we had to buy in Mexico. We got a Richard Simmons exercise video in return. Sweet! It was a crazy day.

Next up was New Years. We were all sick again by this point – Jane and Allison mostly, but I was starting to come down with something too. This year we went to Jevan’s aunt Michelle’s house. We almost didn’t go because we had sick kids, but Jev’s family convinced us we needed to come anyway. It was a lot of fun and Jane completely shocked us by staying up and playing with her little cousin, Calvin until 2am! 2am! I have no idea how she did it. She slept in until 10:30 the next day.
New Years day we didn’t want to spend in the house, even though we all didn’t feel so well, so we went to Millcreek Canyon. We hiked up the canyon in hopes that we could sled down. We put Allison in the Bob Stroller and Jane walked. Sledding didn’t really end up working though because there wasn’t a steep enough grade. We just pulled Jane down on the sled which she loved until a happy, hyper little hound dog decided to cover her face with dog kisses. After all, she was right at his level. That made her cry the rest of the way. This little activity is the only thing we have pictures of.
The rest of January, or at least the past two weeks we have spent sick. Jane came down with croup, Allison got a nasty ear infection, I got hit with a head cold that would not quit. Jevan just barely got this cold and is battling it now. It is a doozy. But I am finally feeling better and starting to feel human again.