A December Recap...

You would think that during a winter "break," one would be able get caught up on life in general. Not the case. Zac and the kids returned to school today and I am finally able to sit down in peace and update this blog. I guess I'll just recap the entire month of December, since it seems to have gone by the wayside.

I think we left off on the evening of December 10. That's when Jack and Brooklyn had the great day in the snow and Olivia watched from inside. Then on the 11th, Olivia went to the hospital. Blah, blah, blah. Fast forward to Dec. 16. Jack and Brooklyn had their Christmas program at church. Jack was supposed to be a sheep; Brooklyn an angel. They decided to just be themselves - no costumes. They did a great job.

Dec. 19th - Brooklyn's preschool Christmas program. She did a great job singing all the songs, but just wanted to see Santa from a distance after the program was over. See, Jack can always be bribed if he knows Santa has a candy cane. Not Brooklyn - she wants nothing to do with the guy.
Brooklyn, Emmy, Jack, and Tyler

Dec. 21 - We begin our Christmas parties. We had the "Trent/Newman/Chatterton Christmas" with my parents, Grandma, my sister and her family, and us (excluding Olivia, of course). Good time had by all. Jack and Brooklyn love to play with their cousins. Believe it or not, they were more interested in each other than opening presents.

Dec. 22 - A great party at the in-laws. Zac's brother Ty and fiance Jen were here for Jen's first time and Ty's first Christmas home in 5 years. To break Jen into the family gently, there was a huge party! Everyone had a great time. I'm very sad, however, that I didn't get any pictures of Ty and Jen together.

Dec. 23 - The Chatterton Family Christmas with the in-laws, Zac's sister & family, brother Ty & Jen, Grandma D. and us (again, excluding Olivia). Brooklyn and nephew Alais slept through most of the festivities. Jack played Santa and distributed presents. We dined on Monical's pizza and chili as requested by Ty - can't beat that!

Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve - Zac and the kids went to his parents house for the extended family Christmas party. I missed this one. Rumors started early in the morning that Olivia may get discharged from the hospital. Mind you - rumors started at about 9:00 am. She was discharged at 9:30 pm. We had lots of hoops to get through in order for her to get out.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Dec. 25 - What a great Christmas! We celebrated early with presents from Santa. Then everyone went to my aunt and uncle's for brunch. (Livvy and I sat out on this one - thought we'd keep her in as much as possible) Then the extended family came to mom and dad's for more presents and our annual tradition of make-your-own-pizza for dinner, poker, and board games. We decided to pack up and head back to Macomb since it had been weeks since Olivia and I had been there!

Dec. 26 - We did our own family Christmas with yet more presents from us to the kids, the kids to each other, etc... More toys.

Dec. 27 - Olivia had her own little Christmas to open presents she missed at the Chatterton family Christmas.

Uncle Ty and Aunt Jen got Olivia this adorable polkadot outfit. Isn't she the cutest!

Dec. 28 - Zac had a little procedure done that I'm not allowed to blog about - Let's just say we are done having kids - naturally, at least=) So this begins the DAYS of him sitting in a chair with ice packs. No photos to post of this.

Dec. 29-Dec. 31 - Zac sits. The kids and I play with new toys and try to get this house in some type of order. Not an easy task. Imagine this, though. Of all the toys, toys, and more toys the kids got for Christmas, they spent the most time in the bathtub (not bathing, just standing there) drawing this beautiful jungle scene with bath crayons that Santa put in their stocking. Why we spend so much money on "stuff" when simple $3.00 bath crayons will keep them happy is beyond me.

Dec. 31 - The 5 of us plan a huge evening of events to ring in the new year. Lots of food, fun, and games to keep us entertained. The kids were asleep by 9:00, me by 9:30. I think Zac made it to ring in the new year New York time. I can't be sure. After all, I was sound asleep.

Well, this pretty much gives you the play by play events of the ending to our 2007.

We wish you all a happy and healthy 2008 and we assume you have all wished us the same, right? We would appreciate wishes for a happy one, but would even settle for a healthy one! Happy New Year!