However, Ellie has had a high fever since Thursday 12/22 at 5pm.  We visited the doctor Friday morning and discovered that she had a moderate ear infection in one ear.  Then, the worst hit later that morning.  We’re still in the midst of it, although there were a few hours this morning when I thought the worst was over and our little girl came back.  Otherwise, she’s sluggish, puny and pretty dog gone pitiful.

So, I pray your Christmas is healthy and happy.

Sam wanted to make “foot holes” in the snow.

We also spent a day at the lake.   I haven’t been there since this picture, taken at Thanksgiving 2007.  (Brian is holding a 4 week old Sam.)  The lake has changed a lot in some ways and not much at all in others.

Then we rushed slushed off to Brian’s parents’ house to have lunch!

Right now the Birmingham Zoo has “Zoolight Safari“.  I’ve never seen so many Christmas lights and decorations in one place.  Yes, there even was an entire 12′ by 12′ winter wonderland.  They had two snow-making machines near the entrance and since it was 38º, it stuck.  Most of the animals were not available, but the petting zoo was still open and it’s always a hit with Sam.  We got in free since we’re members so we just had to buy tickets to ride the train and carousel.  Both were quite decked out as well.  There was lots of music going and some of the lights were synchronized to the music.  Janie and I had Shazam going for several of the songs.

You should have seen Samantha.  She RAN everywhere and wanted to do everything.  Well, almost everything.  She wasn’t too keen on seeing Santa Clause (who by the way was sitting on a rather spiffy Zebra fabric chair).

Here Janie and “Baby” are posing as elves.

Ellie was a good sport all night (and never took that nap).  I guess she had plenty to look at.

Some of the decorations.  I was planning on making a panorama with Hugin, but my hands were too shaky.

Jingle Bell Carousel.  Check out the video.  Sam finally spotted me about the fourth time around and from then on yelled “Daddy!  Daddy!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXY-gDeSi30

The Train Ride.  This is a big deal since Sam has been very weary of riding the train lately.

We plan on going back next week.  Anyone else want to come?

Both Brian and I took down ornaments off the tree, then he moved on to taking the lights off as I was boxing up the ornaments.  (Sadly, we did lose 2 glass ornaments when taking down our tree.)  This was the scene about half way through taking the lights off.

Oh my goodness.  I swept the floor after all was said and done.  Then vacuumed several times.  The vacuum got clogged and had to be cleaned out twice.  Poor tree.

Christmas started with brunch at the Betbezes on Christmas Eve.  I really like this tradition.  We enjoyed brunch then the kids began opening presents.  Samantha got lots of great gifts, but the #1 score (in her eyes) was a new shopping cart from Great Aunt Mary.  She barely had the patience for her daddy to put it together.  Goodness.

After naptime, we headed to mass.  It wasn’t as crowded as usual, so we actually had a whole pew to ourselves.  Our friend Kris took this family shot after mass.  It’s one of the few times that Samantha has actually smiled for the camera.  Thanks, guys!

We came home, had Chicken Tortilla Soup (yum) then nestled all snug in our beds.

On Christmas morning, we got up and opened presents.  Samantha got a few books and some hand glove puppets from Santa.  The hit was the Abby Cadabby magic wand book she got.  I like this shot because it shows Sam in her Christmas PJs and slippers, inspecting her new book.

As we were packing the car and getting ready to drive to Huntsville, I went to feed the cats.  We didn’t arrange for anyone to stop by because we were only going to be gone for a few days.  However, I discovered that we were almost out of cat food.  As in, we didn’t have enough to last a few days.  Uh oh.  It was Christmas morning, and I was sure that no store was open that carried our cat food.  Luckily, the Grissoms came to the rescue.  Thanks for buying our cats’ food and taking it by the house to feed them!!

We drove to Huntsville in time for lunch.  The kids were getting ready for their naps so we hurriedly opened presents.  Wow, what craziness.  If I had to guess a favorite from that bunch, it would be the keyboard from MamaLinda and Pop.  Now Samantha can play the piano and push lots of buttons while her daddy is playing too.  She loves dancing to the beat.

On Boxing Day, my mom and I went out shopping while the boys and kids went to the Train Exhibit at the Botanical Gardens.  I think it was a hit.  Of course, anything involving Jackson is sure to be lots of fun.  See a previous post.

On Sunday, we traveled over to Florence to spend some time with Brian’s family.  We enjoyed getting to see everyone.  We opened presents that night then spent a few days relaxing and playing games.  Samantha’s favorite gift was the rocking chair from Nana and Papa.  She loves it!  She also loved Chloe’s skirt and playing with wrapping paper, tissue paper and boxes!

We had a great Christmas!  Whew.  We were glad to spend a few days at home relaxing before beginning the new year!  Here’s one final picture of us in front of our tree at home.  (And you can see my new curtain in the background, and Samantha’s new white dot outfit from MamaLinda!)

We are ready to get back to normal life after our extended Christmas vacation. I think Samantha really enjoyed seeing all of her family. She seemed happy at each new place we visited and didn’t seem to mind that she was constantly surrounded by new people. She isn’t used to all her new toys just yet. She seems to be uninterested in most of them. If we play with one new toy, she is slowly getting used to it. I guess too many new things just throw her off balance. Life is full of change, little girl!

Merry Christmas! I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with our family this year. Hopefully, we’ll get to see everyone at some point. I’m not looking forward to being gone for a week, but we should have a good trip and have some time to recover at home too.

In other news, dare I say something? I think Samantha is finally better. I know it’s just in time to be exposed to a whole new set of germs at Christmas. But, for now, we’re enjoying our happy Sam again.

And lastly, Happy Birthday Patrick!!