Happy New Year!

It's January 3rd, and the dust is finally settling around here. At least I hope it settled because I just dusted today (ok, that was a BAD housewifey joke). My holidays have been so busy and FUN that I haven't had much time for blogging. I have been taking a lot of pictures though, so you'll get to see the fun we've all been having.

Our Christmas Eve "program" went as well as can be expected with 8 children four years old and younger in the mix. We started off singing some carols together, followed by a trumpet special by Antonio. The kids were fascinated as they watched him, and then Buddy took his music away. Thus ended the trumpet portion of our program. Next, we had a reading about the Advent - the portion of the program that proved that our children CANNOT SIT STILL! Afterwards, Grace and Buddy graced us with their sweet voices while they sang "Silent Night" - all by themselves, complete with actions (which WE do not know, they informed us). After that, Daniel and Molly led us through the Noel Calendar, and the kids took turns putting the figures up. (Things quickly headed south with this activity, and we tried to wrap things up as quickly as possible.) Kalynn, Paul, Preston, Jason and Janelle sang an enthusiastic version of "Go Tell It on the Mountain," which we all enjoyed. And finally, all of the older grandchildren (including Luke) sang Away in a Manger. You could tell those little munchkins were just waiting to get their hands on the packages under, around, practically ON TOP of the tree. SO cute! So that, in a nutshell, was our program.

I was thankful that the Lord answered my prayers and Luke did not get sick over Christmas. He was plagued with a bad case of the terrible twos though, but only at bedtime. I think he had a hard time adjusting to being with 7 other children; the poor kid's not used to that much chaos and confusion, but he eventually adapted. He enjoyed all of the time with his cousins. My grandma and Aunt Mary stayed with us (in a guest room at N-land) for two nights, and we loved having so much time to spend with them. If you know my Aunt Mary, you know that her energy is ENDLESS, especially when it comes to her nieces and nephews. She helped out with the kids so much.

Some highlights of our Patz Family Christmas include:

* a FABULOUS Christmas feast (Thank you Mom!)
* a girl's only (except for Elijah) trip to Moose Jackson's and Wal-mart on Tuesday
* a get-together with the Von's and Ollila's (it's a wierd phenomenon, being in a room with people that I spent many Christmas breaks with when I was younger)
* a few moments of peace and quiet while the guys took the kids to the gym
* watching The Office together after the kids were in bed
* hanging out with my sisters (Janelle, April and Molly) after the kids were in bed

And on to New Years . . . we drove home on Friday, unpacked on Saturday, and packed enough to head up to Saginaw for New Year's Eve. This year for Christmas, Chris' mom and aunts gave their mom (Grandma) New Year's Eve at a hotel with the whole family. We had so much fun! Luke had a blast -- so much fun in fact, that he couldn't go to sleep and ended up bringing in the new year with us. Having my two-year-old stay up 'till 1am was NOT something I was shooting for! O well. Monday we had lunch reservations at The Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth and treated ourselves to some yummy treats at the sweet shop downstairs. We were all good and tired by the time we got home, and it was back to work for Chris on Tuesday. I have a To Do list that's a mile long, but I'm slowly chipping away at it. I got my tree down today and all my Christmas decorations put back in their boxes. Luke was a little dismayed at having to put Baby Jesus in the box; he was a good helper all day long.

Wishing you a Happy New Year,

Katie

P.S. I forgot a major highlight of our time in Wisconsin. Can you guess what that event was? :) (See the last two pics.)
P.S.S. Brace yourself for a plethora of pictures. There were just too many good ones! Pics from our New Year's celebration will have to wait until tomorrow.