December '09 - Part 2

After the cruise, I got to spend a full week with family in my hometown. Curt had to come home to work for a few days, but he returned in time to spend Christmas with all of us.

Whenever we go back to my hometown, we stay with my brother and sister-in-law. This was originally because they had a bigger bed for us to sleep in (we're used to a king) and we get our own bathroom. Now, we also stay there so I get as much quality time as possible with this guy...



This is my nephew Nolan; you'll have to excuse the horrible picture, but, he's two so it's hard to get him to stay still! I LOVE this little guy, and was so happy to have a whole week with him (and the rest of the family ;)).

I think my brother and SIL were glad to have me around too; they were painting and arranging his big-boy room while I was there (they have to get his nursery ready for his little sister, due in May!), so I kept Nolan busy and out of the way. His new room turned out great; he's a HUGE fan of the movie 'Cars' so they used that as a theme. His room is complete with a hand-painted checkerboard boarder and a race car bed! I hadn't started my blog yet, so I didn't think about taking any pictures.

A few random stories from the week...

- On the way to church on Christmas Eve, out of the blue, Nolan started singing 'Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus'....awww, it brought a tear to this aunt's eye

- While in church on Christmas Eve, Nolan sang 'Jingle Bells' repeatedly, no matter what song the congregation was singing! He even added his little voice when my two cousins were singing a duet during the service. Then, at the end of what turned out to be a longer service, he turned to my parents and said 'Time to PARTY!' with a lot of 2 year old enthusiasm! (he was right, my parents always have friends and family over following the service)

- On Christmas Day, we were at a family brunch and my brother got a little excited when my SIL gave him permission to buy a PS3 when they went Boxing Day shopping...it was a misunderstanding, my SIL thought he was talking about buying something that would have been a fraction of the price...anyway, Tom was hooting and hollering, pumping his fist in the air, and Nolan calmly states 'You're a piece of work, dad'

There's so much more I could write about, but I know I have to stop somewhere!

The week was great though, and it was great to have all that time with everyone. Usually our time there is a lot shorter, and often involves commitments away from the family.