Six Christmases...

Hubby and I gave Vince and Reese a run for their money this holiday season. We celebrated Christmas through the exchange of gifts six times, but over a period of eight days rather than one. I wish I had shared more as the time went by, but here is glimpse into the awesomeness of our Christmas festivities.

Our first Christmas was at our home in Virginia on Friday the 19th. It was our first Christmas together as a married couple. We had our third annual Christmas dinner, complete with steak and potatoes, and gift exchange. This year we kept it light with stocking gifts plus a few that wouldn't fit. Hubby did way better than me, in my opinion, with two very special gifts: a photo snow globe with a picture of us from our wedding and a framed copy of our vows. He can be such a sweetheart!

Our second Christmas was on Christmas Eve at my Meme's house. We shared this time with my parents, my sister, my Meme & Grampa, and my dad's brother and his wife and three boys. We received some great gifts and especially enjoyed playing pool with the boys on their new kid-size pool table... as well as the stuffed deer that danced and sang "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" that Meme got Grampa because he was unlucky this year in his hunt for the big buck.

Our third Christmas was Christmas morning at Hubby's parents' house. This was another small Christmas, with stocking gifts plus a few. We got some awesome "first Christmas" ornaments, as well as the beautiful joint stocking.

The fourth Christmas is without a tree photo. We went to my Grama's in the early afternoon on Christmas day to spend some time with her and open some gifts from her and Scott (her husband and my Godfather).

The fifth Christmas was also on Christmas day and was at my parents' house. After opening gifts my sister made some delicious manicotti and then we all (my parents, sister, Hubs, and I) played games. It was a lot of fun and the winners must have only been because it was Christmas- I won the first game and my Mom won the second. That pretty much never happens, but it was lovely!

The sixth Christmas was Family Christmas, an annual tradition of my Mom's family that happens the Saturday after Christmas. This year it was at my Aunt Beth's. They had a great tree that they went out in the wild (not a tree farm) to cut down! This Christmas celebration consists of a yummy meal and two gift exchanges : one (names drawn at Thanksgiving) amongst the cousins (and any significant others that want to participate) and the other an exchange between Godparents and Godchildren. This year we also added on some Rock Band. It was a great time and I look forward to it every year.

After a great week in Vermont, it was really hard to come back to VA. I love being able to spend time with my friends and family and the time is never enough. I cherish each moment though and look forward to the next visit, whenever that might be.

But for now it's back to the daily grind. Work was pretty quiet today and probably will be until after the new year starts. I got a good start on getting back into the routine of "regular" life, including getting a lot of stuff unpacked from the trip this afternoon rather than letting it sit for a few days. What's left will have to sit a bit though because I'm going to bed early tonight (I did not sleep well last night), we have a concert tomorrow night, and Wednesday night is New Years Eve so no doubt we'll be out celebrating. But I have Thursday off, so as long as I don't decide to be a total bum that day, maybe things will be cleaned up in time to enjoy the weekend.

I hope everyone had a great Monday after the Christmas festivities. The next few days will probably be filled with thoughts of what's to come in 2009- including a book reading goal.

Happy Monday! Less than three days until 2009!