Christmas & New Year's

Christmas was much fun at the Wilson house this year; Sean was so excited he could hardly contain himself. From the cookie decorating, shopping, gingerbread house, Christmas lights, wrapping presents, decorating the house, school Christmas program, church activities, and of course Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We're excited to start Christmas family traditions; some carried over from when we were kids and others that are new family traditions. Sean is old enough to really enjoy Christmas and understand the reason that we celebrate Christmas.

Derek's mom, stepdad and sister Megan visited for a week from Illinois and we really enjoyed having there here. Unfortunately, we were all sick with a cold! It started with Sean who was sick with a runny nose before the family arrived and then I got sick with a cold and sore throat worse than he had and then Ryan got sick and then Derek got sick. Needless to say, we really weren't completely better until after Christmas. The first night Ryan was sick, I think I got like an hour of sleep - it was pretty bad! The poor little guy could not stay asleep and he just cried and cried for a couple of days. I took him to the doctor and they really didn't know what was wrong with him. The ironic part of this is that it seems like one of us is always sick when our family comes to visit. Derek had been telling his family about how easy going Ryan is and that he is slow to cry and quick to smile. Well, that is not the baby that they saw when they first arrived! We kept telling them that he really was a good baby and usually didn't cry like that. Thankfully, he was much better the last couple of days that they were here.

We spent most of the week playing games and of course, eating and eating! That's what we like to do around the holidays. Our family helped to spend time with Sean since we all just kind of layed around from not feeling well. Sean was so excited on Christmas Eve for Santa to come that he just kept running around the house asking when Santa was coming! On Christmas morning, Sean actually slept in until about 7:30. His Aunt Megan was sleeping in his room so she helped to keep him in the room until we were ready.

He received way too many gifts and his main Christmas gift was a train table. We had it set-up in the living room all put together (took 3 of us to figure it out the night before!) so that it would be the first thing he saw when he came down the stairs on Christmas morning. He loved it and started playing with it as soon as he saw it.

On New Year's Eve we stayed home and Derek's dad and stepmom Diane and our good friends the Nix Family came over and we snacked and enjoyed each other's company. We rented a couple of movies and I actually managed to stay up until midnight! Derek set-up a special snack table for Sean and his friend Grace in the basement so they could have their own party.

I guess I should also mention that Derek's dad, stepmom Diane, and grandma moved from Pinetop, Arizona to Colorado Springs in December. They had planned to move here in a few years to be closer to the boys, but Diane's job situation moved them here sooner! They found a house to rent and she is looking for a job. It all happened very quickly. It's nice to be close to family though and we're trying to encourage others to move here too! :-)

I'm looking forward to 2009 and pray that your year will be blessed! We are hoping to take a few trips; one to Arizona and one to Illinois. My sister Michelle is having a baby in March and I can't wait to see the new baby. Derek is planning on teaching some more classes at Colorado Christian University and thinking about starting an MBA program. Happy New Year!