A Whirlwind of a Christmas

It feels like its been a year since I last posted, especially since so much has happened! Christmas was crazy this year, but it was so much fun. We were all over the map Indiana: my sister's for Christmas Eve, back to our house so I could work one day, up to Wabash for an extended family get-together, and back to our house with the family in tow. It all happened so fast that sometimes I feel like it didn't even happen.

This was technically my nephew Isaac's second Christmas (he was born Dec. 17 last year), but it seemed like his first. It was so fun to watch him discover his new toys (and lots of them!).  Our neighbor and close friend from back home in Virginia made him this toy chest-- painted it and put his name on the front and everything! Isaac didn't quite understand the purpose of it, but I'm sure in the coming years he'll learn to hide all sorts of things inside :) He did enjoy closing the lid though, since it makes a nice loud noise.

 Isaac's festive house-arrest bracelet;) Just kidding! He tore it off as soon as he realized the bracelet was causing all that noise when he walked.

(He didn't like the bow much either....)

 Isaac must have thought he needed more presents and proceeded to steal gifts from other members of the family. Uncle Deric took it back though:)

 For the second part of Christmas, our aunts and uncles flew in from California, met up with our grandparents in Michigan, and drove down to Wabash. We stayed at the Charley Creek Inn, this charming and incredibly nice historic inn. Christmas for the extended family consisted of a lot of eating out, tons of Christmas cookies (my contribution to Christmas), and hours spent watching Isaac.
 Grandma & Grandad were given the role of Santa and their favorite, favorite place to shop is Whole Foods, so Santa got a little organic this Christmas...

 Isaac got monster slippers but seeing as he's still perfecting the art of walking, the slippers may have to wait a few weeks. Poor kid couldn't walk more than a few steps in his monster feet.

 Of course, no Smith/Blum family gathering is complete without a little antique browsing...(nope, not related to those Blums, but it is cool!)

 Deric couldn't figure out why the door wouldn't open...

 or why the man wouldn't answer his questions.

 My younger sister found a buddy for her Christmas card, although he doesn't look as thrilled as she is about it:)

 And she found a bike to put on next year's Christmas list!

Sadly, for the last part of our week-long Christmas, there are no pictures. After Wabash, my parents and younger sister came to stay with us. We kept them busy helping with house projects, trips to the DMV to sort out titles & registration for my car, mattress shopping (thank you Mom & Dad!), and as a reward, dinner in downtown Indianapolis at the Weber Grill. Delicious.

We rang in New Year's with pizza and games over at my in-laws' house. Should I be embarrassed that my parents stayed up longer than I did? I barely saw the New Year before I went to bed, but they stayed up bowling on the Wii. And then bright and early the next morning, they began their 12-hour drive back to Virginia.

So now the decorations are down, the house seems empty and too quiet, and Deric and I are back to work after enjoying a week off. Even the snow is gone! So I figure now that Christmas is over, let's skip the rest of winter and go somewhere like this...

image here

Who's with me?