December Festivities - Week Two

This last week has been great! I dove into Christmas shopping the end of the first week and finished most of it up this week. I had a late and slow start, so I forced myself to get going and now I'm feeling much better! Much of my week was spent shopping, wrapping, and mailing! We sent off our Christmas cards and a couple packages and now we even have a few presents under the tree!

Then on Friday night, Jeremy and I went to his company Christmas party. It was quite the event! They had it at the Holiday Inn nearby in their Conference Center, and there were about 600 people there. It was a casino theme, so they had a bunch of casino games going on and tons and tons of food. We mostly were mingling the whole time, but it was fun. It's always weird for me to hear so many people introduce Jeremy to their significant others as their boss. Especially since most of them are twice his age! He clearly is a well-liked boss, which is great (especially by the older ladies, haha). It was fun to meet some more of his colleagues I hear him talking about too, and to get to know the wives better. Of course everyone was enamored by my belly and that was usually the topic of the conversations for me! By the end of the night my feet were killing me, but it's always nice to get out and do something different. I also loved that the dress for the night was casual! Some people were more formally dressed and some were super casual, but I always worry about what to wear if it's a more formal event. Casual is something I can do!

Saturday was another eventful day. We started the morning off by going to Eli's school for their annual Christmas pancake breakfast. It was so fun! I have to say I really love being out here in Cincinnati where most people are Christian and aren't afraid to be. The school is all decked out in Christmas decorations and "Merry Christmas" everywhere, and it's nice that it's not played down at all. So we ate some yummy pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy and then we went to the art room to do some crafts. They had a bunch of different things for the kids to do and they loved it. The elementary school is mainly made up of kids from our neighborhood and one other neighborhood, so I'm recognized more and more people and these kinds of things, which is great. They also had a holiday shop for kids to buy presents and a little photo booth set up.

After we left the school, we went to Dollar Tree for the kids to pick out some Christmas gifts for each other. We do this every year, so they can give gifts instead of just getting them. They've been working hard lately to do extra jobs to earn money so they could buy some presents. Jeremy and I took shifts with each kid, so we could make sure everyone got something for everyone without giving it away! It was a little tricky, but I think we figured it out.

That afternoon, Connor had a Christmas party for all the Sunbeams at his Primary teacher's house. They are so sweet and threw a really nice little party for the kids. He came home with a big smile and a giant stuffed bear, so I think he had a good time. Then that evening was our Ward Christmas activity! Whew. It was a busy day. They did a "Back to Bethlehem" theme, so everyone was encouraged to dress in biblical clothing and bring a blanket to sit on. They had hummus and pitas, and meats and fruit and stuff to eat, and then they did a little program. It was pretty short, but it was a nice evening. I forgot to snap a picture of the kids in their clothes, but they were pretty cute. Anna called me Mary all night. She's a goof.

We have a few more Christmas activities and parties this next week and then it's Christmas! Yippee!