Well, here it is three days after Christmas and I'm just sitting down for the much anticipated Christmas post. I have to say, that though I haven't had time to sit down and write, I have had time to wonder what exactly I would write.

I have seen that many of you were a few steps ahead of me with your posts of pictures and tales of Christmas traditions. I loved reading them and learning about your own family traditions and what things you'll pass on to your children. Reading your posts also got me thinking about our Christmas traditions. We share many of the same traditions, but this year some of our traditions changed a little, too.

Christmas Eve was spent with the Richard side of the family as we have always done. It's been one of my most anticipated Christmas events for as long as I can remember. We used to pile into my Gram and Paps house for food and family and presents. In recent years we moved our get together to Larry and Mary's, and this year to my cousin Amy's. We returned home in time for church which is something important to Earl and I. At home we put the kids in their Christmas pj's and picked out the special cookies and carrots for Santa and Rudolph. McKenna was so excited for Christmas this year and it was definitely contagious.

The kids gave us an extra little Christmas gift and slept until almost 7:30 Christmas morning, a rare treat for all of us. McKenna excitedly opened her presents, although she volunteered for Cooper to go first. Unfortunately, Cooper was more interested in breakfast than he was in opening presents. And once he saw his fire truck he wasn't really interested in anything else Santa had under the tree for him. That afternoon after everyone had a nap, including mommy and daddy, we packed up and headed to Mimi and Pappy's. We were all treated to a few more presents and Dad's special dinner, lobster tail and steak! My mom surprised me with a bracelet...and my brothers and I surprised her by giving her almost the exact same thing. It was really kind of funny. I guess that goes to show how much we have in common.

The day after Christmas we got together with Mom-Mom and Pappy Landis here at our house. It was a little different than usual because Julie and Hayden didn't make it home this year. But they were on the phone with everyone when we presented Mom-Mom and Pappy with special portraits of all their great-grandchildren.

This weekend we surprised Earl's Mom with a trip out to see the new house and most importantly the kids. We coordinated it with Earl's sister who also came out with her three kids.

It has definitely been a bit of a whirlwind but now that it's over we wouldn't trade the past few days for anything. We learned a lot this past year about the importance of family and spending time together as much as you can. We were blessed to be able to spend time with all of our family even though it wasn't in our "traditional" way.

To all of my family and friends who showered us with gifts, thank you so much. Your thoughtfulness was so greatly appreciated. For those of you who bless us with your company and your love, thank you for being a part of our lives. For those of you who I connect with on-line, thank you for sharing your thoughts, stories, humor and inspiration. All of these are wonderful gifts.

I hope you enjoy a few of the pictures I picked out to post. I also added a flickr badge to the upper left of the blog with some other Christmas pictures.

Looking forward to the New Year....

McKenna, Tighe, Zach and Jase