Christmas catchUP!!!

WHEW!!!

are you feeling it too?

i think that today is the first day that i am actually pretty relaxed and 'unwound'...

i have been getting emails, and comments...about classes for scrapbooking, so i will start with a

NOTE FOR SCRAPBOOKERS:

i am finishing up my January 2008 newsletter over this weekend, thank you for being so patient with the holiday delay...and i must say that i am so excited to hear that you are all so anxiously awaiting to get back at your albums with all your holiday photos!!!

( and not to mention TARA with her gift certificates for my store she's eagerly wanting to shop with!!! )

January is The Scrappin Studio's 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY so there will be LOTS of great sales and surprises at the HALL CROP on January 11....stay tuned for your newsletters gals!

( and if you are interested in being added to my email list for monthly newsletters just send me a request at thegriffs@mts.net

so, back to Christmas...

i had a little car incident/accident just over a week before Christmas. i am just fine and so is the van. it wasn't a real 'accident' anyway, but it did send me for 7 trips to the physiotherapist to fix my shoulder! so i wasn't in physical or the mental state to go shopping and do my baking and preparing...i WANTED to, but couldn't make myself do it!!! so it was total crunch time a few days before Christamas ( especially since mike and i were having our family dinner at our house ) so i HAD to get things done...plus the kids giving me daily excited reminders with the santa countdown put the pressure on to get my butt in gear! i am always much better prepared than i was this year...oh well, it all worked out in the end as things always do!

so, i finished my running around on Christmas Eve DAY and raced home to make my cabbage rolls and had a little 'panic attack' when i saw THIS eyeballing my on my stove...

YIKES!!!!!!

it was cabbage roll crunch time now....

...after all the cooking, baking, wrapping and preparing were done, mike and i finally got to bed around 2am...not bad afterall!!

christmas morning was fun as always watching the kids ( once tyler got home ) rip through all their presents from us and SANTA...their excitement is always a payoff for the rush and late hours getting ready....so yes, happy, lucky, blessed kids christmas morning!!!

...the kids were soooooo stoked on getting this one! mike bought a snowmobile in the summer and he's been slowly getting all the equipment that he and the kids will need to ride warm and SAFELY!! they got their gloves, belaclava's and new helmet for Christmas and as you can see....pretty dang excited!!

we were happy to have grandma and grandpa with us at our place christmas day for dinner...i was worrying a bit about how comfortable grandpa would be, but he came in his usual witty good spirits and had a great long stay with us!!

( see Aunty Liz...your beautiful floral arrangement did indeed 'join us for dinner' and we held you with us in proxy!!! sorry you were unable to make it in for the holidays! )

...boxing day is always another FUN filled day at my mom's house! we have a yummy pot luck dinner with more gifts, a visit from 'Santa' and lots of fun games! tyler was really excited to see Santa come to grandma's house and have a visit with him, he even got to be his little elf and hand out candy canes!

yep, we all had a fabulous and happy christmas holiday together with our family and friends! it couldn't have been better!

late on boxing day evening, when my friends linda and dan, who live in kansas city, came to moms' for a visit, tyler was still being a 'good little elf' and brought us over some malibu rum jello shooters i made and brought over!! i had forgotten about them all night and then mom found them....so dan and i had a couple each ( can't let them go to waste you know! { GIGGLE } )

linda and dan are expecting their FIRST BABY in the lase spring 2008...sorry you didn't get to enjoy one lindee.... :O)

..so i am fully recovered now i think from the holidays...until new years eve....we are spending the day snowmobiling and tobogganing at the floodway with our friends and their kids, then back to our house for some new year celebrating!

what are you new years plans??

happiest holidays everyone!!!

( keep those cameras going!!! )

:O)