Christmas is coming

First off, Thank you for those that commented on my last post. 
I know that I was whining a bit, and feeling a little bad.  My mom has been gone for 4 years now, and sometimes the losses my family has had, is a little overwhelming.

I have decided to pull myself up and out of the funk and am concentrating on the good things.

This week is a little crazy, since I don't get any time off except for Christmas day.  I usually have Christmas eve off, but with our crazy year I have used up my PTO and then some.

Every year, Christmas seems to sneak up on me more and more.  This year is no different.  I am looking forward to Christmas Day this year, however.  We will have our good friends, the baby, my younger sister and the boys at our house.  My oldest is bringing his wonderful girlfriend and their new dog.

This cracks me up because we will have 5 dogs in the house for a time on this day.  What I haven't blogged about yet, because we are still on our two week trial is the addition to our family.  I promise that this weekend, I will do a post on that and include pictures.  This coming Saturday marks the end of our trial period and then he will be permanent.

Back to Christmas is coming.... I have caught up on most things, and I only have a few last minute things to do to prepare.  I got some barn time in this last weekend, and on Sunday, Macgyver came and helped me with Barn chores.  This was pretty encouraging as he normally does not come to the barn with me.  I really appreciated his help, as I was cleaning stalls for my trainer/friend because they were down South doing Christmas with parts of their family.

I am putting together some treats for the horses tonight, and plan on going to the barn after work.  I will not ride probably until Saturday, and that is okay, since one of the girls are riding him today and another advanced Student is taking her lesson on him tomorrow. 

This is a new development for me.. sharing him.  I have been very reluctant to let anyone other than my trainer and her daughter ride him.  I have really not been good at sharing, and really it has been fine, since I pay the bills for him..lol

This Christmas week is a little different too, since I am working on Christmas eve.  We are planning on having a very low key evening.. but we are going to observe some traditions.. Any one else having a different Holiday this year as opposed to years past?

One of our favorite traditions on Christmas eve, is opening one gift.  Everyone gets to choose one item to open "early".  There is much agonizing over which one to open.  It usually starts out with our youngest declaring he "knows" what is in each gift, and him trying to pick out what he "wants".. Some years, he is right on, and others.... which are far more hilarious, when he is completely off and opens something he didn't expect! 
We do this after dinner, after the dishes are done and dessert is served.  Once the gift is opened, we make popcorn and drinks (hot chocolate for the minors, and baileys and hot chocolate for the adults), and put in our traditional holiday movie.
We watch a Christmas Story every Christmas eve.  It is one of our favorites, and we all know it by heart..

After the movie, I make up our traditional Christmas morning breakfast, and then we might play a game or head to bed, depending on how late it is.
Then the elves get busy on the Santa Gift and stockings, and on Christmas morning, the boys open their Santa gift and stockings before breakfast. 

Does anyone still do Santa gifts for their older Children? 
This gift is usually the "big one" in our family.
I remember almost every Santa gift I have recieved from when I was little... Some of the more lavish ones..

When I was 15, I received a Saddle, Bridle, and Saddle pad.. This is a story in itself, and I will do a separate post on it.

When I was 17, I received a Big white fluffy robe, with car keys in the pocket.. again.. another story in and of itself... that was a very memorable Christmas

This year, our oldest is 19, so his Santa gift is not as big.

The youngest is receiving a small "gift to open" because his big gift is his snowboarding trip.  The snowboarding trip is actually 8 weekends of snowboarding.. transportation, lift ticket to Baker, and spending money.. all in all about 500.00.. so that is his "Santa" gift.

A couple years ago.. it was his 85cc yamaha dirt bike
and The oldest received his Yamaha Keyboard.

Does anyone else go over the top for their kids on Christmas?  We do, and I think it is a direct link from how my Christmases were for me... Anyone else have extravagant Christmases growing up?

Time to get back to work, and finish making my to-do lists for the rest of the week!  Happy Christmas week to all.. it is only three days away now.