The holidays are over...

...and thank goodness for that! While I truly LOVE (and I do mean love the holidays) I am always so glad and relieved when they are over and done with for the year. My bank account definitely appreciates that they're over, too! This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my husband's family back in good ol' Truman. It was a very nice and relaxing weekend.

When we got to Truman on Friday night we stopped over at the in-laws for a little while before Ryder and I ventured the 6 miles to my parents' house. Ryder played with is grandma and grandpa for a couple hours before we headed to bed way past his bedtime - that's what we get for taking a 2 hour car ride before bedtime! On Saturday morning Ryder made sure to wake me up nice and early like he always does (heaven forbid I actually get to sleep in) and we spent the first half of the day with my parents. That afternoon we headed back to Jason's parents' house where I spent the afternoon and early evening helping my MIL to cook our Christmas feast - and what a feast it was!

We had ham, duck (which I did NOT try but did name Daffy and Donald), brisket, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, scalloped corn, stuffing, yiffda, delicious bread, lefse, and pumpkin pie. Everything was delicious. I think we all ate until we were ill, gosh it was good! I helped to cook most of the food, so I do have to give myself a pat on the back for my cooking skills. Plus, I'm getting to continue enjoying the fruits of my labor via leftovers...lots of leftovers.

After the kids asked for the 100th time if they could open gifts we decided that we better; also, Ryder was fading fast so wanted him to open his presents before he had a total meltdown. Presents were a hit and I think everyone was very satisfied with the generous gifts. Thank you again to my in-laws for everything they got us, and thank you to Auntie Mull and Uncle Brian for all the fun cowboy gifts you gave Ryder. The favorite present of the night was Ryder's "pony". If you are a Toy Story fan and you have kids or know someone who has kids then you seriously need to get off your butt and go buy this toy.

After the gifts had been opened and Ryder had been put down for the night, hubs and I had a great time looking at his baby pictures which my MIL finally found. We still can't decide who Ryder looks more like (me or him), but I think after seeing DH's baby pictures it's safe to say that Ryder definitely looks more like his daddy. It will be interesting to see if this stays true as our little man grows up.

We spent the majority of Sunday at my parents' house but did spend a couple hours at the in-laws which was nice b/c DH's grandparents were there and got to see Ryder. All-in-all it was a successful weekend. Ryder slept the whole way home on Sunday and still went to bed on time that night.

Here are some pictures of Ryder from this weekend at the in-laws. I "borrowed" these from my SIL's mobile uploads on Facebook. I will be sure to get some better pictures on here after I finally get them off of my camera and onto my computer!

With Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Olson

Opening a present from Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncle Rick

And here we are in the middle of another work week. This momma has one more night shift to work before enjoying a relaxing 4 day weekend - and by relaxing I mean cleaning, cooking, laundrying, etc...

As always I promise to get some pictures on here soon. Remember to check back Friday for my 2nd entry of my "52 Week Blog".

Much love to you and yours! - Danielle