Christmas 2009
We had a fabulous time in North Carolina this Christmas! I love my family sooooo much! It was a momentous year since the whole family was back together for the first time in a long time. Jeff just got back from his mission, Nicole was back from school, and two of my sisters hadn’t even seen Henry yet. No one had seen him more than once, and that when he was just born.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t even get to see him much the whole vacation! Grandma and Grandpa and all his new aunts and uncles were happy to entertain him 
Greensboro is about the most Christmasy town I’ve ever seen. So many people had gazillions of lights! Our neighborhood puts out luminaries around all the streets every Christmas Eve, a simply lovely tradition. No wonder we’ve always had great Christmases - it was probably easy for Santa to find! One neighborhood takes the cake, though. The whole neighborhood hangs these orbs of lights in the trees lining the streets. It’s incredible! The pictures and video really don’t capture the magic of it all, but it really is spectacular.
Christmas itself was great. My family got a Wii, so there was lots of rock band and High School Musical Dance Party going on.
We went up to Virginia and Maryland for my dad’s family Christmas party. That was really great - I haven’t seen them in 2 years.
My family is so cute and so fun! On New Year’s Day, they had a night of competitions. Everything you could think of. Staring contest, free throw contest, standing on one foot, noodle throwing, portrait drawing, arm wrestling, twinkie-eating, etc. There were 15. I was proud of myself for winning the baby food tasting contest. Jimmy stole the show though and won the most. That’s my husband