Our stay in St Louis was really nice. We mostly hung out around the house which was fine by me. I enjoyed being inside where it was warm. We got to the house late Saturday night. I didn't step outside until Tuesday to run an errand.
**Tuesday night we drove into Illinois to drive through a light display. I always enjoy viewing Christmas lights so I enjoyed myself.
**Wednesday we went to the mall to visit Santa. We also got to see Pops on Wednesday as he drove in from Illinois.
**Thursday we stayed up late with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law watching them put together some Christmas gifts.
**And, of course, Friday was gift-opening. I have to say I was glad that everything was low-key with Canaan this year. We opened her stocking gifts before breakfast. And by the time we started opening the gifts under the tree, Canaan was napping. I think that was good timing because I expect that she would have been overwhelmed with all the activity.
We had wonderful hosts in St Louis who fed us amazing food! Next year we may have to ask for the brother-in-law's recipe book for Christmas. He is an excellent cook.
Canaan thoroughly enjoyed the many toys they had to play with, the dog and 4 cats, the cousins, the food...pretty much everything but the sleeping. The first few nights were rough, but then Canaan settled in and slept at night and took a nap during the day.
The reindeer outfit has been worn by all three kiddos on this side of the family. Canaan's aunt said we had to get an embarrassing picture like her kids had, but I think she looks really happy to be wearing something so fun!
I have to say that this year is the first time that I never really felt like it was Christmas. I definitely did not get my fill of Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas goodies (as I still cannot eat anything with eggs or dairy), or Christmas decorations. When we got home Saturday evening, we opened presents that we had not even wrapped. This was the first time in 7 years that I've gotten to take off the week of Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed not working and did enjoy the holiday. But something was different this year. I was so thankful to share the time with Matthew, my precious Canaan who I was only dreaming of this time last year, and the rest of the family.
When we got home Saturday night, we went to pick up Max. He stayed with some folks from church. They said he was the best behaved dog they have ever kept. They have a son in college who apparently wanted to ask if they could "rent" Max for another week. It appears that Max had a good time there as well.
Merry Christmas!
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