a whirlwind of a Christmas...

I can't believe it's over...all the planning, shopping, decorating, wrapping, baking, Christmas card sending, family gathering, Christmas song listening, mistletoe kissing, unwrapping, and Baby Jesus celebrating is over!!! December has been an amazing month and soon 2012 will be here and we get to start all over again.

We're so blessed to have the family and friends that we do, and this makes for a very busy holiday season.  This year we had 5 Christmas gatherings to celebrate and still have one more in January! Needless to say, Ryleigh was spoiled rotten and we now need to start adding an addition to our house just to hold all of her new toys, clothes, and activity centers! We're very blessed and are so thankful that she has so many people in her life that love her so much!

As material as the holiday season can be, I would have to say that the most precious gifts were time spent with loved ones and for Ryleigh to meet some very special people that she hadn't been loved on by yet.
This included her Auntie Erin and Uncle Neil that came all the way from Denver, CO. She met her Aunt Shannon, Uncle Brian and Aunt Lorri with all her cousins! She met her Great Grandpa Kingma, and her Uncle Davey was able to come home from Iraq! What an amazing Christmas gift that was!! I'm so happy that he was able to come home and celebrate the holidays with family and will be so sad when he has to return to Kuwait in a weeks time...

It's been a very emotional holiday I must say. I'm a sap, but I think it's been amplified ever since Miss Ryleigh was brought into our lives. I was a mess when I saw my brother walking towards us down the airport terminal, and I couldn't hold it in during the Christmas service at church...or when I had to say goodbye to Nana and Papa Neel before they headed down to sunny Florida! Christmas evening we received a very special gift from Jason's grandparents and when all 24 family members lined up for hugs, kisses, and heartfelt thanks I had to excuse myself...I was happy when the day came to a close. I wasn't sure how much more I could take! I am just so overwhelmed with how blessed we have been this year and how everything has fallen so beautifully into place. I give all thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior. God is good, all of the time!

With January just a couple of days away, I'm trying to enjoy this last bit of 2011.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, and may the New Year bring you every blessing!