Our Thanksgiving was a bit different this year because Joel's football team made it to the Missouri State Championship game which is always played either the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Edward Jones' Dome in St. Louis. This was a change of plans at the last minute because we had already purchased plane tickets to travel up to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. We ended up spending a quiet Thanksgiving at home by ourselves as my parents were in Phoenix visiting my brother and his wife Danielle. I cooked a full traditional Thanksgiving meal all by myself and it turned out great if I do say so!! Here is the spread and Joel and Reagan anxious to eat!
In the end, Joel's team lost but they still have a lot to be proud of. This was the first championship bid in school history and the winningest season as well - way to go Fort! I'm proud to say I'm an alumni! After the game we were able to get Reagan on the field with Joel. Here are a few pictures.
Look closely at her shirt, it says "I love FO Football". FO stands for Fort Osage, Joel's team.
Christmas 2009
I have one word to describe Reagan's first Christmas - spoiled! I suppose spoiled should also be followed by very very loved! Last year when I was pregnant and I was imagining what it would be like when she was here I never thought it would be so wonderful! Starting traditions and sharing time together as a little family is amazing! I can't wait for Christmases to come as she understands more and more about the meaning and of course presents!
Here is a quick run down of our Christmas festivities:
1. Going to see Santa. She did great! Just stared at him and didn't cry at all. I was so proud!
2. Christmas with Great Granny & Papa on the 23rd. This was the first "Christmas" Reagan had and it was with Michelle's mom/dad, Michelle's grandparents (Reagan's great grandparents), and Michelle's aunt/uncle and their three kids, Alex, Max, & Macy. Reagan got some cute clothes and her favorite thing of all - Violet! Violet is a little dog that sings and talks and is programmable to learn her "owner's" name. Reagan LOVES violet and we love Violet because she has a night time feature where she plays lullabies on a timer. Puts her to sleep every time - I only wish we'd had Violet a few months ago!
3. Christmas Eve Program at church went really well. Reagan loved watching the kids and listening to them sing. When we got out of church the weather had started to take a turn for the worse and sleet was covering the ground. It was yucky! We were supposed to head down to the country for another program at my mom and dad's church, but that ended up getting canceled. So we carefully made our way back home and spent a quiet Christmas Eve together as a family, it was actually really nice.
4. CHRISTMAS - a white Christmas! We got around 6-8 inches of snow which doesn't happen very often, it was so pretty! Reagan woke us up around 7 o'clock so we all headed downstairs to see what Santa had brought! Reagan was not too into opening presents, but she did like the tissue paper and empty boxes. Oh and bows, she loved the bows! Reagan got a new outfit, a pink learning purse, fridge farm magnetic animals, and a walker/ride on toy that is helping her learn to walk. She also got a neat nativity set from Great Grandma O - Joel's dad's mom. Uncle Aaron, Aunt Jen, Carly, & Chance sent Reagan a really cute outfit. Santa (i.e. Joel) brought mommy a very pretty necklace and charm bracelet from Brighton. I love that he can add charms to my bracelet as we go through life. Mrs. Clause (i.e. Michelle) brought daddy a wireless PowerPoint presenter that he can use in his classroom. He was excited about it once he figured out what it was!! After all the presents were opened we continued our tradition of fixing a colossal breakfast. I'm talking eggs, pancakes, ham steaks, bacon, hash browns, & toast. It was yummy! I teased Joel that he better get good at making snowman pancakes for when Reagan is older.
After breakfast we spent some time together playing with Reagan's new toys and watching the parade on TV (a tradition I remember from when I was little). We got everything packed up and headed to my parent's house - or at least attempted to. With all the snow coming on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning the snow plows hadn't yet made it to our street. Joel had shoveled our driveway so we made it out of that but then couldn't make it up the small, and I mean small incline to the top of our street which is only about 200 yards from our driveway. The snow was that deep. So Joel decides it would be best to back down all the way down our street to level ground and get a running start. bad idea. we got stuck even worse! Joel ran up to the house and got the shovel and started to shovel the snow out from the tires while I drove. Slowly but surely, with the help of a couple neighbors pushing, we made it to the main road! Reagan thankfully slept through the entire thing. We drove carefully to my parents' house where we opened more presents! Reagan got some really cute outfits, some fun toys, and most special of all my parents opened a mutual fund for her college savings. Joel and I are so thankful they are willing and able to contribute to helping her save for college. After all the presents were opened we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging about before we headed down to my Aunt Linda's for our big family Christmas. Once again, Reagan was spoiled with more toys and cute outfits! We had an awesome dinner then headed home before the roads got too bad. It was such a wonderful Christmas spent with family and enjoying our time at home starting new traditions with our sweet little girl!
4. Christmas with Joel's family. The Monday after Christmas Joel's parents, Craig and Eunice, and his brother Caleb and girlfriend Emily came down to celebrate with us! We opened presents and Reagan got some books, a backpack, and a shape sorter toy. She really loves books so those were her favorite! Then we decorated sugar cookies which was fun and yummy :o) That night we went out for Caleb's birthday dinner at Logan's restaurant and it was really good! Caleb and Emily left on Tuesday morning and Craig and Eunice left on Thursday morning. We didn't do a whole lot besides watch Reagan play and watch football, it was nice to just relax!
We hope you and your family had a blessed and Merry Christmas! We're looking forward to next year already!
Since there are too many individual pictures to include here, check the next post for a slide show!!
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