Christmas Vacation :)

Josh and I braved the weather on December 23rd and headed up to the lakes. It normally takes us about 6.5-7 hours to get there from Austin; however...this trip took more than 10 hours because of the roads. It was a long haul...and I stayed awake for all of it but the last hour :)

Everyone was there: Grandma & Grandpa Barsness, Josh & Myself, Lynn, Kim, Kathy, Natalie, Nora, TJ, Paris, Shelly, Jesse, & Troy. Tom and his two boys couldn't make it in from CA this year, and Jake couldn't make it up from FL...but other than that-everyone was present!

Some of my favorite memories from this year:
* Learning how to play Risk (something I always watched my family play)
* Catching up with family
* Learning how to make Grandma's homemade Caramel Rolls (oh yes, I will be making them this week if anyone is interested in coming down to Austin!)
* Trying to build a snowman with Natalie & Josh; however the snow was packing :(
* Lounging around & eating
* Movie in their home theatre!
* Dirty Bingo
* Nice long walk outside with Josh on Christmas Day-the day we were snowed in...

Yes we were snowed in, so our Christmas plans were changed. I will admit I was REALLY bummed out not to see my family on Christmas Day, but I will next year :)We traveled home on Saturday, December 26th to spend the evening with my mom and dad! My mom made my FAVORITE: Chili - and even a bowl for Josh without beans :) You're the best mom!

My favorite Christmas present of all time was the gift my parents gave to us. You see, EVERY Christmas Eve, my dad would read "The Night Before Christmas" to all of us. This was a tradition he started well before I was even born. It is also a tradition that I have held him to. Every Christmas Eve I have my dad read me the story. For Christmas this year, my parents gave all four of us girls the same gift: "The Night Before Christmas" book...with a special recording from my DAD!! I was so excited when I opened it that I cried. I don't believe the pregnancy hormones had anything to do with these tears...these were strictly tears of joy!

That evening Josh and I took my mom to the movie "Avatar" at the IMAX Theatre...AMAZING!

That movie is unbelievable...you have to see it, and you have to see it at the IMAX!

On Sunday, Josh and I traveled over to OD's house to have Christmas with Other Dad, Sharon, Kayla & Mike. We had such a good time over there! His dad made the most delicious soup...it was a recipe from the Olive Garden...SO GOOD :) And he gave me a copy! OD & Sharon shopped on our registry for us for Christmas (something Josh highly recommended) and we received two AWESOME items :) They bought McBaby his/her swing and swaddling bouncer :) We were so excited that we put them together the very next day! We also had a blast playing Catch Phrase as a group...I think I bruised Josh's rib cage when I threw it at him-I just get WAY too excited when I play that game!


I wanted to spend a little more time with my parents, since my dad had to go to bed the night before and couldn't go with us to the movie...
So we ventured back to my mom and dad's house! We were going to go bowling - the four of us - YES...my mom said she was going to go :) But they had leagues, so we have to reschedule. But we played games instead. Now if you know my dad, you know that he doesn't like to play games that much...well, he played...and he liked them!

We played Apples to Apples & Scattegories. My favorite part of Apples to Apples...haha was at one point, my mom did something funny. I started laughing so hard and then I did the same thing! Then my dad drew a new green card and the definition was "Nasty". He ended up picking Josh's card, which read, "My Family". Haha-I was crying I was laughing so hard...Oh the memories! I love you mom and dad!

Now that we are home and our house is put back together and everything is unpacked...we are able to enjoy the rest of our Christmas Vacation relaxing! We had a very fun Christmas and look forward to the year 2010!