A little bit of our crazy life...: The Rutherford Family Christmas Vacation

Our family Christmas card 2008

As anything with this family it seems that Christmas would only be crazy also. So instead of writing the "long" version of our holiday season I will try to shorten it up a bit!

Christmas Eve was pretty uneventful. I wanted to go to Church as we did that last year and it was very nice, but Riley is so unpredictable, and I know Church would be packed, I didnt want to take a chance. So I decided to make a huge pot of sauce/meatballs and sausage for dinner and for Christmas day when the crew from Florida came in. I had some last minute errands to run, and when I got home, Daddy and Riley were having a fashion show...he was putting her in her Jackass Motorsports atire, it was quite cute. So other then a little stress, and a meltdown I had after Walmart closed at 5 and I still had things to get, I tried to enjoy our Christmas eve, but Riley was pretty fussy and I ended up eating my cold spaghetti dinner at 10:30 with a baby on my lap! Ohh the joys of parenthood!!

Christmas day also started out a little messy! Kennies dad, Lisa and Harry were flying in from Florida, and we were supposed to spend the day at my parents. After a little confusion of getting a plan together for the day, we were finally on the road to my parents house. Needless to say, next year, per Kennie there will be a strict time table set in place before xmas day and we will know what the plan is!! Once we were at my parents and Kennie's mom got there, we opened presents! Of course Riley was spoiled by the grandparents with some new toys and outfits. We gave the grandparents, and the immediate family pictures of Riley, which went over very well. Our big present from my parents was delivered the Saturday before....a chest freezer, so the majority of present opening was for Riley. We had an awesome dinner of prime rib, while Riley got passed around the table, my dad put her to sleep in his arms and next she went from person to person, it was very sweet and nice to eat my dinner! Kennies Mom said an awesome blessing before dinner, and everything seemed so complete with our little girl at Christmas dinner!

Then after loading the gifts it was back to the house to get ready for Dad, Lisa and Harry to arrive. This was the first time meeting Riley so it was going to be very special. They were so excited when they got in, Lisa dropped her bags and scooped Riley right up! We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and catching up and eating. All in all, it was a great Christmas! Kennie and I decided to wait and open our gifts when his sister got in on Friday. Between having both Grandma's at the house, Riley was pretty well taken care of, and getting very spoiled, so it was nice to have a break and time to nap!

Friday started out as a very busy day! We all got up and took Riley for her first trip to the diner down the road, pretty uneventful, she slept the entire time! Then it was off to Walmart for Dad, Lisa and I to stock up on groceries. It was honest to god, the biggest shopping trip I have ever gone on! We decided to get all easy meals to have at home, to make it less work and easier for who ever wanted to cook. 2 cart fulls later, we had enough food to last a month! We got a lot of stuff to stock the new freezer though, and Dad and Lisa came with the intentions of leaving us with a bunch of quick food! Elisa(Kennies sister) had also arrived for the weekend, so once we got home, we made some appetizers and all opened presents. Although we were not exchanging, Dad and Lisa surprised us with a digital picture frame! I was soo excited because I have really been wanting one of these! Aunt Elisa, bought a star for Riley. She now has a star in the universe named after her! That was a very awesome present!! Both Kennie and I were teary eyed when we opened that one! To top off the great presents, Grandma Patti got Riley a huge dog book, its about 3 feet tall!! I know being a dog loving family Riley will always cherish this book! Last put not least, Daddy got Riley a sled! Although its been too cold for her to use it, we plan on taking a trip through the backyard soon! Riley also got me a mother daughter willow tree angel, which was very special! My gift from Kennie is a new light for the kitchen, and I cant wait to go get it and get it installed!

The rest of the week (the Florida crew left on New Years Eve) was pretty uneventful. We spent most of the time hanging at the house. Saturday I made turkey dinner, and Harry and Kennie played in the snow all day. Harry wanted to play in the snow non stop, being from Florida he missed out on it, but usually most 14 year olds, have no interest! Poor Kennie said he doesnt want to throw another snow ball all winter! Monday, Lisa and I left Riley with the boys and we went for a girls night...Manicures, pedicures, chair massages, and dinner and drinks!! It was very fun, and something I really needed, I cant thank Lisa enough for this special treat, as it was such a fun night! Dad went out and got us a webcam, so we will be able to chat via video so they can see Riley, its a very cool thing, and I thought they were much more expensive, but its was only $40!!! A cheap way to keep in touch, and this way they dont miss out on Riley growing so fast!

So after the fam left on New Years Eve, Kennie and I were pretty much too exhausted to want to do anything. We spent the afternoon hanging around the house, and relaxing. Our special NYE night consisted of Chinese food and bed by 11!! It was the prefect night, for these new, exhausted parents!!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday season! It came and went so fast, as it does every year. I was a little late on getting cards out this year, but Im just glad I got them out before February!! I hope that 2009 brings great things, and blesses everyone with good health, and much happiness!! We had our ups and downs in 2008, but Im starting 2009 with good hope, this will be out best year yet!