Holiday Catch-up

Christmas was most excellent.

On Christmas Eve, my extended family had a dinner and a nativity scene. Blondie Cousin, who is usually quite shy, literally leapt into my arms upon her arrival and took me as her designated slave for the evening.

I served her dinner. She insisted on "picking" her own food. "I wanna pick it!" Among the picked was a bunch of carrots.

Her mom said that Blondie Cousin really liked carrots, but I wouldn't have known because the kid would not eat. She was hyper and excited and climbing all over and under the furniture like a little monkey.

Finally, I said, "Blondie Cousin, if you don't eat your carrots, I'm going to eat them!" And I popped one into my mouth for good measure.

Immediately she climbed into her chair. "Otay! I'll eat my carrots!"

And she did. After eating, it was time to do the nativity. Blondie Cousin cut her foot on the stairs, so I put some Band-Aids on the cut. But she was not satisfied and, as I dressed her in her sheep costume, cried, "More Band-Aid! More Band-Aid!"

After the nativity, she plonked herself onto my lap to watch the 2015 family slideshow. Baby Brother cuddled up on my other side, happy and excited that there was now only one more sleep 'til Christmas!

And what a Christmas it was!

I finally got to see everyone open the presents I'd been gathering for almost three months. Of course, I got to open presents, too.

As a gift person, I love thoughtful gifts, especially when they are surprises. I got lots of really great surprises from my parents, my siblings, my friends, and Santa Claus. Either I am becoming boring and predictable or my loved ones stepped up their gift game 500%, because it seemed like everyone knew exactly what I wanted. One of the most exciting of these exciting gifts was a ticket from my little sisters to see Caroll Spinney, the Muppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, do a Q&A live here in Utah! Expect a fun blog post about that.

For New Year's Eve, I went to a party with my family. I felt kind of sick, so I ended up leaving early and rang in the New Year watching Phineas and Ferb in my apartment.

Before I left, I stopped to speak with my mom, who was helping Blondie Cousin get some treats. Blondie Cousin tried some cheesecake, didn't like it, and motioned to Mom that she wanted to try a different cake.

"How about you eat your cookies first?" Mom said, but Blondie Cousin was headed for the cake.

"Blondie Cousin!" I called. "If you don't eat your cookies, I will!"

"Otay!" She ran back to her plate of goodies and bit into a cookie.

"Works like a charm," I said.