Christmas Again

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone again. It may make me sound old, but it seems like it comes faster each year.

Christmas was a little bittersweet this year. Not only did it occur mere days after my Grandfather's funeral, but everything was so hectic and frazzled that I didn't feel like I could really enjoy the holiday. But time with friends and family should always be cherished.

My family did our traditional Christmas Eve gift exchange at our house this year. I made oyster stew in honor of Grandpa (though I didn't eat any of it - YUCK) and potato soup (which I ate lots of). We had lots of delicious other snacks, too. And of course, there were lots of presents.

Pretty tree and pretty presents.

Eating.

Daddy told the Nativity story before we opened presents.

Present time! Salem slapped some duct tape on her present, just like Grandpa used to.

Go Broncos!

On Christmas Day we had a big dinner at my parents' house, with meat, potatoes, and all the trimmings. Plus some delicious desserts. Then some of us went to see Les Miserables, which was pretty awesome. Anne Hathaway = awesome. Really.

A few very short days after Christmas we were on our way back to Kansas to have Christmas with Matt's family. First, we stopped in El Dorado to see Grandma. Like so many times before, we watched football together, visited about life and family, and ate a delicious meal cooked by my grandmother. But this was the first such occasion without Grandpa, which made the experience bittersweet. It was tough to leave and make our way down to Matt's folks' house, but we were also excited to enjoy time with his family. 

After our family's little gift exchange, we made our plans to wake early in the morning to head down to Oklahoma City for our Christmas celebration with extended family. Sadly, Matt's uncle got ridiculously sick, resulting in the entire event being cancelled. We tried to salvage the day by meeting a cousin at Olive Garden, but the rest of the time was spent watching football and relaxing.

Our last day of our little Christmas trip, was supposed to include a fun gathering of our friends and their beautiful children, but we had some cancellations on that day, too. At least we were still able to see our buddies Dac and Alisha and their new baby, Reid. Baby and friend time was fun! And I was able to give little Reid his Christmas present.

It was a little monster I made! I made one for Ruby (John and Anna's kiddo), too, and I was told she liked it when she opened it at home.

And then, on the first day of the new year, we finally headed home and tried to settle down into normalcy. But, while I can't deny that this holiday season was funky, sad, and stressful, it was also great to see family and friends. 

Christmastime is... Gone (Part, the Second)

After a very short stop home, we were off again. My family rented a house in Estes Park where we gathered for New Year's Weekend. We get to see each other a lot more frequently than Matt's side of the family, but it was still nice to sequester ourselves away for the weekend. And it was awesome that every member of our family was able to be there.

We had our big "Christmas" dinner on New Year's Eve, followed by our gift exchange.

The whole family at dinner.

For presents this year, we did our traditional pooling of money, with each person receiving one gift. But because a lot of the money pot went to renting the house, our gifts were less lavish - which is definitely ok by me! I like giving big gifts, but I also like remembering what Christmas is all about! And the kids got lots of gifts, of course.

Presents!

Though the theme was certainly "Christmas" up to that point, we still had a new year to ring in. The start of 2012 involved lots of football, food, shopping, games, and Christmas Carols.

Happy New Year!

We had to acknowledge a little one's birthday:

I'm sure she was happy to get some attention in all the craziness.

And then we just hung out. We ended the weekend with a rousing game of Telestrations, which was hilarious for those who played and highly obnoxious for those who heard us laughing from the other room. That's a pretty typical situation at Krause gatherings.

Best. Game. Ever.

And so, another Christmas has come and gone...

Christmastime is... Gone (Part, the First)

Christmas? In February? That's craazy!

We had quite the Christmas adventure this year, which led us through three states and to five different gatherings. Our first stop was El Dorado, Kansas on Christmas Eve. For the first time in years, the three Krause boys (my dad and uncles) and their wives were able to gather with my grandparents for Christmas. We felt a little bit like kids crashing the grown-up party since there were no other younguns around, but it was nice to see everyone.

After a beautiful dinner made by my aunt and uncle, we sang some Christmas carols and exchanged a few gifts. While Matt and I just sat and watched while the older generations opened their gifts from their draw-a-name exchange, we participated in the fun of the white elephant. Lots of laughter and fun was had!

On Christmas morning we got up early to make the drive to Bella Vista, Arkansas. Matt's immediate family stayed in a nice lake house so that we could have our own little Christmas before the big family gathering at Oma and Opa's.

At our little lake house.

Most of Matt's extended family was able to get together to celebrate, and we had quite a crowd.

The whole clan.

The few days we spend in Bella Vista were full of lots of visiting, playing games, and eating tons and tons of delicious food.

Too soon, we were off to our next stop: Marshall, Arkansas. This portion of the trip was much more subdued, as it was mostly just sitting and chatting with my other grandparents (and a little time visiting my aunt and uncle).

With Granny and Grandpa.

We felt so fortunate to be able to visit all of our 6 living grandparents over the course of a few days - and so fortunate to have these wonderful people in our lives.

But we had to continue onward - to fun times with good friends. We had a reunion in Ark City with our little group of Matt's best friends from high school and their wives. It was the first time in years that all of us were able to gather at the same time, plus we had the addition of Ruby (John and Anna's little one).

The night began with a giant box of beer:

Dac's mystery box of 24 different beers.

And the night continued with hanging out, watching Birdemic (if you have Netflix, you should go waste 2 hours of you life on this movie), and generally acting ridiculous.

We love getting to see so many people in such a short time, but it's definitely exhausting. We were excited to head home to our own bed for a short time. Then we were off again for more Christmas craziness...

Kansas Christmas

One of the greatest things about having two families to celebrate holidays with is that Christmas is twice as long. Since I tend to get a little blue after holidays and big events, I loved that I had a second Christmas to look forward to this year. Last week, we made our way to Kansas to celebrate with Matt's family.

On our way to good ol' AC, we stopped to visit some very good friends of ours. We've been friends for years, so it doesn't take long to settle into our hanging-out routine. Here are Matt and John, looking at something funny online, just like they always do.

Same old, same old - wait, what's that baby doing there?!!

Yep, we've added a new addition to our little friend-family! In November, John and Anna had a baby girl: Ruby Rose. We were very excited to meet the little one and hang out with old friends. It's funny that the visit was completely different, yet exactly the same.

Look at the happy family!

Little Ruby Rose.

After a fun visit, we were off again. We still had Christmas to celebrate!

Christmas tree!

We had a family gift exchange on New Year's Eve before heading off to a crazy NYE party! We got to visit MORE of our great friends, and welcome the New Year together.

Unfortunately, one of our group had to head home a little early and we didn't get to see her before she left. Fortunately, some awesome person invented Skype. The five/six of us played games and acted silly, which is pretty normal for us.

The boys dancing, skyping, and playing Settlers.

Finally, "Christmas Day" was here... again. We spent time with extended family who we don't see very often. Games were played, the kiddos opened presents, and LOTS of food was eaten. It was another great holiday.

Fun Christmas/New Year's!

And then it was time to head home. Matt went back to work this week and I started my student teaching. But we are about to leave our quiet life behind for the weekend as we embark upon a very exciting adventure. If we survive (just kidding... I hope), we will have lots of fun things to post next week. So keep your eye out...