My what a busy holiday Christmas was this year. I thought I had it all in hand and getting all of my stuff done in a timely manner. Soon it all caught up to me and then I got behind. Figures.
Friday on the 21st we picked up the three grandkids Brandon, Alexus and Mariah took them to Billings for dinner and then shopping. We ate at the Pizza Ranch figuring that the kids like pizza and they could eat what and how much they wanted. Pizza Ranch also has buffet items besides pizza, you can get a great salad, chicken, vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. It is pretty good. We usually take them to the mall to eat, but since they took out half the food court, there are not any places to sit. The mall put the kids play area where the food court used to be. Now there are only about 8 tables to sit and eat. Not sure what the thinking was on that. Every time we have gone to the mall, the food court was packed with people.
We gave the kids their Christmas money and they could get whatever they wanted. What a difference a year makes with Alexus. She is now 12 and her shopping sure has changed. Last year she was into the little girl stuff, now she is interested in the bigger girl stuff. All she wanted was a pair of shoes that she liked. We went to three different shoe store before finding a pair that she liked and could afford. One store the shoes were $80 on sale and all she had was $50. I told her that we would find her Grandpa Gary and talk to him to see if he was willing to give her the extra $30. Alexus kept telling me that she wears a size 8 1/2 shoe, which I found surprising that she wears a bigger size than me. The shoe store measured her foot and she is actually about a 7 to 7 1/2. This store got her a pair in the size she wanted 8 1/2.
We went into another shoe store and they had the same kind of shoes she liked but they were on sale. The guy measured her foot and she is a size 7. He got a size 7 and Alexus kept telling him that it was too small. I asked if he has the next half size up and he did. She liked the 7 1/2. The salesman told me that my "daughter" has been wearing the wrong size all this time, so now that she is in the right size it feels too small. I told him that I wasn't the mother, just the grandmother. I ended up giving Alexus the extra $10 for her shoes. She was happy.
Mariah had fun shopping and she got alot of items on her $50. She found some bracelets that were on sale, then some fingerless gloves. She wanted a snow globe so took her to the Happy Days store, she didn't like that store so out we went. I took her to the Hallmark store. She found some snowglobes, but then she found the Charlie Brown book that has stories for the 5 holidays. She told me that she really likes to read and she could read that book. She ended up buying the book and a bag of candy.
Brandon was hard to find what he wanted. He was looking for tips that fit over his cue stick. We ended up going to a specialized sports store on Grand Ave. Mariah found some more stuff that she could buy unfortunately she bought Denver Bronco stuff. I think she just liked the horse head on her items.
We had a good time and I posted a couple photos on facebook. Tristan is wanting to go with us, so next year we are going to have to figure out how to get all 5 of them together for Christmas shopping.
Jennifer and I went to the movie "The Hobbit" on Sunday night. We enjoyed it but I was dismayed to find out that this movie is a three parter.
Christmas Eve Day the Courthouse had our annual Christmas Eve Brunch. Everyone brings their favorite brunch food and then at 10:00 we all get together to eat. It is alot of fun and we get to eat very good food. A snow storm hit us on the 24th and it snowed all day. We got a white Christmas after all. The Courthouse was closed for the afternoon and employees had the choice to take vacation for the afternoon off or we could stay and work. I took the afternoon off.
Christmas Day was very quiet at the Liming house. We were invited for dinner at our friends house in Billings and Jennifer was included in the invite. I had to bring the au jus sauce. Our friends Dick & Joan hosted the dinner. There were 10 of us all together. Another couple was kidless for Christmas so they came and ate too. Joan's sister was there and so was Dick's son and grandson. We had a good time and the meal was delicious.
Joan and her sister made prime rib roast, creamy potatoes, homemade dinner rolls, waldorf salad. I had the au jus sauce for the roast and the other lady made the green bean casserole and a very yummy dip. For dessert we had cheesecake with our choice of blackberries or blueberries. When Joan cooks for a group, she makes enough to feed an army. If you walk away hungry from her table then it's your fault.
We had a great time. Dinner was at 2:00 and we didn't leave until 5:30. Jennifer had a good time, she was a bit worried because she would have been the youngest one there. She said that our friends were great and she was included in the conversations.
Our main Christmas present is the trip to Hawaii, so we agreed to save our money for the trip. We all got new carry on suitcases for Christmas. We leave January 5 and come back on the 13th. Our original plan was to be in Hawaii on Christmas Day, but the prices were so high, that we are going afterwards. It was $400 cheaper per person on the air fare. Jennifer didn't care just as long as we get to go.
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