I think it's been long enough that I probably need to recap from what, late November? So, first things first, obviously, Thanksgiving.
Torrey's sister Angel was nice enough to invite us out to share Thanksgiving with her, so we took about a week or so off and went out to Ft. Hood, Texas. Despite being on a military base her house was fairly roomy (4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms), and there was plenty of space to stuff the whole family in. We had a good time hanging out with the nephs (nephews and nieces) while Angel was at work, and she actually physically cooked a huge spread for the evening meal. All the classics, and a few others, were laid out, piping hot and delicious. (I'll link some pics later :) ) We also hit a wonderful Japanese buffet that had like, 5000 different items, including actual steak, Korean steak, and fresh sushi.
After Thanksgiving was Christmas time. Everything was super hectic for about a week at the beginning of December, since our Thanksgiving trip had eaten up alot of the time we usually used to do things like put the tree up and go Christmas shopping. So, we gathered it all up and did it all that first week we got back. Bought our tree, decorated it, and bought presents for pretty much everyone that first week. Like I said, it was a little hectic, but it was nice to just kick back for the next couple of weeks and let the frantic last-minute scrabbling happening around us :D
Christmas was wonderful. This was the first year Tre had been in the same place for more than one Christmas, and it was fun explaining to him time and time again that yes, we were doing Christmas again, and that we'd do it again next year. We had a bunch of gifts from Santa, in addition to the family, and we tracked Santa via website across the US, and made sure kids were in bed before he arrived ;) Our family has the tradition of having a big family dinner on Christmas Eve, so we have everyone come over then, and we exchange all the gifts from those people on Christmas Eve. So we kinda had two Christmas', with all the exchanges that go on the night before, and then the extras (from Santa Claus and immediate family) on Christmas morning.
Our standard intended-to-be-lowkey-but-turns-into-a-25-person-gathering ensued on New Year's Eve, with the initial invite turning out quite a number of people. We had a good time though, playing Wii Fit and Rockband and trying out new appetizers, and clanged glasses and kissed as the ball dropped on delay from New York XD
January has gone by in quite a blur. Bill was out of town for a week, so that was a steady stream of kids-kids-kids. Additionally, we got called for an emergency placement, with a nine year old and a 4 month. It was definitely short notice, and due to the way they were being passed off we had to run out and pick up a number of items. Not a big deal, just something that goes with the emergency placements. We talked it over, and agreed to keep the kids for a month. We thought that was about the extent of what we could handle. The boy was a little hyperactive but a nice kid, and the little girl was in her slug phase, so not much of a handful. Despite our agreement to take them for a month, it turned out that we only had them for about 5 days. Thankfully, they were reunited with the Mom, who was happy to have them back. It was an interesting experience, and it was nice to see that we may have had to stretch a little bit, but that we could handle four if we had too.
So, that's been the last couple of months in a nutshell. I'll try and hop back on in a couple of days and add some pics and videos in were appropriate.
- Woolly Turtle
