Christmas Eve

We had such a great Christmas! It started off on somewhat of a bad note on Christmas Eve when we signed the papers and got the key for our rental house. The process was rough because we just wanted to get on with it, and the lady sat there and "read" every single paragraph of the 6 page lease (I use the term read very loosely. I don't know if she was really tired or maybe english is her second language. Either way, it was painful to listen to). So then we finally made it over to the house. I had originally looked at the house about a month and a half ago before it was really ready to show. The lady said they were going to clean the carpets and re-stretch them and replace a shower. Well, they did replace the shower, and it looks very nice, and they did clean the carpets. But that's ALL they did. The walls have dirty hand prints all over them and food splatters in the kitchen and joint compound filling some nail holes, but flat out huge nail holes all over the place. That's just the beginning. Needless to say, I will be having a talk with the rental property manager on Monday.

However, the good news is the rest of the day improved significantly. Shane's dad, who he hasn't seen in 7 years, came over and visited for a while. Then he and his wife took us all out to eat. And of course, they were both very charmed with Chloe and Leyla.After dinner, we got ready to go to Shane's grandmother's house. It was so fun to be around family, even though it wasn't my own family. But I've been hanging around since Easter, so I'm pretty comfortable around them by now. Chloe and Braque have met several times, but never really interacted much with eachother. But on Christmas eve, they quickly became best buddies. I snuck into the back bedroom and she and Braque were laying on the floor coloring in coloring books. I came in mid-conversation:

Braque- I want a rabbit, but we have a cat instead.
Chloe- I need a dog.

I started laughing at this point. First of all, Chloe's never told me she wants a dog. And secondly, she NEEDS a dog? Of course my laughter interrupted the conversation. Anyway, those two had a lot of fun running around and playing together. And Leyla walked around and held her arms up to everyone she saw in order to get picked up and carried around.

Here are some more pictures from the party.