Let the holiday madness begin!

And I say "bring it". I LOVE the Christmas season! I have a perpetual feeling of happiness from Thanksgiving to the New Year. Obviously I'm not in charge of our household budget. Outwardly, it may appear that I should be stressed or unhappy. Our income is at an all time low, our debt is at an all time high, and, NO, we're not moved into the "new house" yet. And yet, I just feel such JOY - and it's all because I am so thankful for my life. I have so many blessings I could never name them - but mainly I just feel so much love for my family. And when I say family I mean ALL of them. My Hubby, kids, siblings, Mom's side, Dad's side, in-laws and all the extensions. And let's not forget the reason for the season. What a wonderful blessing that our Heavenly Father would send his Only Begotten Son to come to Earth, teach, bless and heal his followers, then sacrifice Himself for OUR sins, and show us through His example that we will be resurrected and have eternal life. WOW! How could you not feel the power of that blessing?
So, here's some pictures from the past few weeks of a few of the reasons I'm so happy. :)
Grandad came to visit for Thanksgiving! It's always so great to see him. He and Angel just love each other so much - it's so sweet to see them together. Then, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister, Joni's house. She hosted and prepared most of the dishes herself. She's a wonderful cook. Everything was soooo good. We had turkey, salmon, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, sweet potato pie, corn, fruit kabobs, two jello salads, chips and an awesome dip, cheese ball, fudge pie, apple pie, and random treats. I'm sure I'm forgetting things. She really did an amazing job. We tried to get a family pic while we had most of us together. This was the best one. We even got 2 of the grandkids in the pic. Has anyone else noticed how short I am? Those people behind me are not standing on anything, and as far as I can tell, they're even slouching. I don't know what happened!
We had another Thanksgiving dinner that night at my in-laws. Frank's grandparents, 2 uncles and a niece and nephew were here to visit also. Of course it was delicious, and my MIL makes the best pumpkin and pecan pie! YUM! The next day all the Garcia/Gonzales men played golf. Damian had a blast. Then, my sis, Julie finally got here! I haven't seen her since she left for school in Aug. It was so fun to visit w/ her again. I'm looking forward to seeing her at Christmas again. On the way back to Springfield, I got a couple pics of this amazing sunset. What a beautiful world we live in! One more Thanksgiving dinner, and then we set up the first Christmas tree for the season. We always do the tree at my dad's after Thanksgiving dinner. This year, it was even more meaningful, because we don't have room right now to set ours up at home. We have done several other traditional Christmas-y things, though. We made a gingerbread cookie tree,

our traditional graham cracker train,and, yes - finally set up our tree. It's in my bedroom at the new house. So, we get to see it whenever we're over there working. :) I'm just glad we got to set it up. The kids were very happy, too. We've been to some really fun activities this month, too. Here are some MORE pictures! Our school's PTA president held a party for all the Exec board members' kids. They did several crafts, had treats, saw Santa and got a present from the PTA Pres. Thanks, Mich! (and Brett). :)
We went to the Bass Pro Santa Wonderland where the kids did more activities, played games and rode a little train. We attended a free Christmas music matinee put on by the Springfield Symphony. We got to see my dad and another sis play in the symphony. It was a very nice concert. So nice, that the kids were lulled to sleep for a portion of it. Oh well. :) Earlier this week, Angel and other dancers from A&B Dance Center performed at a local nursing home. Angel danced her first ballet solo to a portion of the Waltz of the Flowers from Nutcracker.
This week, I'm hoping to get the Christmas presents all finished and wrapped and cards sent out. This weekend I hope to do some baking. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!