Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

I'm gonna make this quick and hope that the pictures tell most of the story. We had a great Christmas! It was worth the long flight. The flight went pretty well I think, though it was a bit stressful getting on it. We thought we barely made it, but then actually ended up sitting in the plane for awhile while they de-iced it. And we were also mistakenly charged 300 francs for extra baggage.

We were picked up at the airport by brother-in-law Darrell, and his girlfriend, MY cousin Marissa Grotegut (Mom's older brother, Tim's daughter). They are very cute together (find their roundeo page to the right under Grotegut, or click here.) WE loved playing with Adalyne and Coleman (Lauren, Spencer's brother, and Jennifer's kids). Paisley said several times how she just Loves Addy. We had a relaxing couple of days, very needed, at Grandma and Grandpa Roundy's house, and then headed down to California on Tuesday, stopping at Grandpa Roundy's parents' home in St. George and staying the night with Aunt Maren (mom's sister) and Uncle Kevin.

By the time we got to Cali we were already quite sick of traveling! Then we had to get all of our Christmas shopping and wrapping done, which now that I think about it, is pretty impressive in 2days. We also went to the mall and saw Santa. Geneve said, "ho ho ho!" but wasn't interested in getting too close of course.

Christmas eve day was spent in preparation, including Paisley helping with Mom's famous Christmas braided breads. Which turned out as yummy as ever. We had a simple Mary and Joseph dinner where we ate foods they might have eaten, and we sang some songs and read the Christmas story. We let the kids open a present with pajamas and a book. Then the parents stayed up all night being Santa....oh wait, not this time. It was really quite simple so when I saw that spencer had konked out putting Geneve to sleep, I just put the gifts out and joined him before too long. 

Morning of, kids woke early of course, but had to wait because we thought Brian and Doreen might get there in time, and for grandparents and everyone else to be ready. They watched TV to bide the time. Then they paraded in and we were happy they were all excited about their gifts. Then to the pile of presents under the tree which took us a few hours. Then we ate our yummy breakfast and enjoyed a relaxing day filled with new toys and family. Miriam's family came over too (from Mexico) and we enjoyed their company and their tamales (which I think is what we ate for dinner?).

Geneve was cute opening presents. She got very excited about every present whether hers or not, liked unwrapping, and was especially beside herself with excitement about the new baby doll she got from Grami. She was in rapture!

Other stuff we did in California, we went to the hotel pool of Miriam's family, with Josh and Miriam and Miriam's mom and brothers (outdoor pool, love California!), had some friends over, went to the zoo, and relaxed. We met the mother of Jeff's child, Lauren, which was nice (she was very pregnant at the time). No Disneyland this year, and no beach. We kept it simple and close to home. And we had a really great visit. We really enjoyed each other and being with the family. The kids all enjoy their uncles and Aunts and Grandparents and the other way around!

Oh, we also saw a couple of movies in the states and recently. We saw The Princess and the Frog while in California and loved it! I have been saying for many years that Disney needs to go back to traditional animation and retelling classic stories, that they were overdue for a princess fairy tale, and that it's about time they have a black hero or heroine or story. And Voila! My wish fulfilled. We also saw (whether in the states or here) Avatar, Holmes, and 500 days of Summer. I liked all of these movies quite a lot for different reasons. And I recommend them.

Much more to come, stay tuned! ....Love, Harmony