on december 5 & 20 fum fum fum.

Wow. What a Christmas! So the pictures will be posted tomorrow. I was lacking the patience and energy, to get them all up tonight. In the meantime, here is our post.

Our flight into Richmond was a little bit tough having it be overnight. But it was ideal to get as much time in Richmond as we could, without taking extra time off of work.

We got into town about 11am and slept as much as we could to make up for the time we missed Thursday night. My sister, Bill and Delaney all arrived shortly after dad returned from the airport with mom. The 7 of us went to eat and then Rick and I went out with our friends. I met up with a friend that I haven't seen in years and years but have known since preschool and a few of our other high school friends. It was really fun to catch up and talk about the olden days, because yes I am apparently old enough to have nostalgic thoughts about my short life. (Doesn't that make you feel old! :)

Saturday, my parents took Rick and I shopping to pick out our new winter coats, which we both love. It is a really good thing this is what my parents got us for Christmas because it was snowing in Portland when we returned. That afternoon, my mom and I went shopping without the boys and had a blast, as usual.

Mom cooked me stuffed shells for dinner, well she cooked enough for everyone, but she really cooked them for ME. (This meal was requested about 3 weeks ago!) Because my sister & co. weren't going to be in town for a normal Christmas eve gift exchange, we had it after dinner Saturday.

I also acted like a grandma too and took tons of photographs of my niece! What you see is not all that was taken, I just tried to pick out the best ones. I even took a really cute video of Delaney playing and giggling, but I haven't figured out how to post it yet.

We also went to see a play at the Firehouse Theater. It was called "The Christmas Story according to Uncle Daddy" and sort of made fun of Christmas, but it was hilarious. It featured 2 Richmond bands, one being Special Ed and the Shortbus.

Lets see... Saturday night, Matt had his Christmas Party, which was a blast! And by blast I mean about 15 - 20 people, all that knew each other very well, drama-free and lots of food & drinks! I mean it might be one of the best parties Rick and I have attended. We also got to see some old friends that we haven't seen much, especially since the move.

Sunday we spent the day with Rick's family at his nanny's house. We did an elephant gift exchange that was brutal, but very fun. They have no shame about stealing each other's gifts, which made the whole process that much more fun! I won Yahtzee and Candyland, but the Candyland I have to our nephew, Tristan.

That night we were pretty tired, but went over to Matt's for the Redskin game. We ended up only staying for the first half so I could play Yahtzee with my mom. And although I was really excited, I realized very quickly I forgot all the rules. But mom quickly taught me and beat my butt both games!

Monday was the busiest of all of our days with it being Rick's mom, sister and nanny's birthday AND Christmas eve!

My dad and I picked up Bryan from the airport. Rick and I, then, went over to Lynn's house for our Christmas with her and Rick's dad. We had a lot of fun playing in the front yard and of course taking plenty of photographs. Lynn spoiled us with all sorts of stuff, including a nice new knife set, which we needed terribly! We also went and hung out with Rick's mom for her birthday as well as nanny's for hers. That evening we had dinner with my parents and brother and then went to church for the midnight service.

Our last day in Richmond, Christmas day, we got up at 530am and went over the Rick's mom's to unwrap gifts. Cheri even made us breakfast! Most of us went to sleep but Tristan and I played with all of his gifts from a Crayola Airbrusher and moon sand to pirates and hot wheels. We had a blast! I think eventually Tristan wore me out too and I fell asleep on the couch. By the time Rick and I woke up again it was time to go pack our suitcases.

Dad cooked us steak and eggs for lunch. We had to borrow a suitcase, because the 3 we brought (one being empty upon arrival) did not fit all of our gifts.

Our flights were pretty terrible. We had really bumpy rides, but Rick "terrified of flying" Rice did an outstanding job! He had to wake me up a few times for moral support but aside from that he left me to snooze.

We got back to our apartment around 10pm last night. Both exhausted and very hungry. But were able to get to bed at a decent time so we could make it through our day today!

Things we learned while in Richmond:

1. Sleep. It doesn't matter how many places you have to be or people you have to see it is important to sleep, because we didn't sleep much at all.

2. Nothing beats your mom's home-cookin'. Whether it is the meatballs nanny makes or the stuffed shells your mom cooks, moms always do it better. Although my dad's steak and eggs were pretty good, but guess who cooked the steak... mom the night before!

3. Rick is crazy about babies. After a long night out with friends, the first thing he did at 8am in the morning was take a shower so he could feed her one last time.

4. The Redskins are going to the play-offs, well we hope, as long as they win on Sunday against Dallas... so we will see.

5. Do not to cram 2 familes in 4 days because it is almost impossible, and if you finally accomplish it, you will be disregarding #1.

Love,
your exhausted and happy to be back in pdx oregonians.