Christmas 2009

Today is a very picture heavy post so I will keep the writing to a minimum. However, the Christmas season for the Rapier family was as busy a time as I can remember. With Abby in drama for the first time this year and Braden having started Piano and Logan having his first year in Pre-school, you should be able to mentally start tabulating the number of Christmas programs we attended during the first two full weeks of December. It was a few. Below is a sampling of the programs including Braden and Abby's piano recital and Logan's preschool program.









Now the picture of Kate was taken at Braden and Abby's recital. Much to my dismay, this picture does not indicate that she has taken an affinity to Brad Paisley and is therefore dressing accordingly. No, actually Shannon's grandmother Layton's 90+ year old male compadre (Just not really sure of what to call their relationship so we will try that) really has taken a shine to Kate and loves to play with her. Here she is sporting his hat. She, unlike the older two, is showing a similarity to Logan in that she is not opposed to wearing hats. In fact at times, she rather enjoys it. As evidenced by this next picture:



Once school let out, things quieted down and then we realized how behind we were with Christmas presents. So on the Saturday before Christmas, I took the kids up to Noon Creek on Mt Graham and got some pictures that we used to put in a collage frame for Shannon for Christmas. We got several good shots, but here is one of my favorites of the three older ones. We weren't able to get one of all four because Kate fell asleep on the way there and was cold and...anyone needing further explanation regarding the picture taking ability of a one year old under those circumstances, call me.



Suddenly, Christmas Eve was upon us and we found ourselves headed to the annual Rapier Christmas Eve party. My extended family has been holding this get together for longer than my entire life. In fact, I showed a video of old home movies of this event that dated back to 1972 and that was not the first one. Anyway, we did what we always do; feast on Mexican food, have a gift giving thing for the kids, recreate the nativity and most of all, enjoy catching up with one another. A new wrinkle this year was that each family was invited to share a song or presentation with everyone else. Abby and Braden each played their Christmas songs on the piano and I showed the aforementioned video. Our parents went with a reading of the poem "The Night Before Christmas" with my dad somewhat acting it out. I mentioned to Shannon that for some reason, I was taught a funny recreation of that poem as a child and I don't remember any of it except one line. And whenever I hear that poem, I automatically think of that line. It goes, "When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bunkbed and missed the ladder." I smile everytime. In fact, racking my brains just now, I am not sure I even remember the real words. Oh well. Below are some of the pictures from this night. Abby finally got angel duty which she has wanted for many years while Braden was promoted from Shepherd to Wise Man and Logan scored the role of Joseph. Also, notice how enthused Abby is at dinner.





Then suddenly, it was Christmas morning. Braden and Abby got bikes, Logan got Lincoln Logs, Kate got a new doll and Ryan and Shannon got each other the same gift. What you gonna do. I guess that means that we really wanted it. We got each other a fire pit. There were lots of other presents and we had a great time that morning playing with our new stuff. Abby officially entered pre-teenhood and enjoyed a more Christmas of comfort than Christmas of toys. She can be seen here with her new Snoogie (which she had desperately wanted...really...it was not a gag gift. To make it worse, I now believe I may want one.) Shannon and I prefer to call it a Slanket based on a 30 Rock episode. If you have seen the episode, you will understand.







That afternoon, we went over to our parents' house and enjoyed Christmas dinner and then additional present opening. Marilyn got a new iPod dock for her iPod touch and so after setting it up, dancing in the kitchen commenced. I am not sure how Shannon's family reacted to this as Melinda's kids had a look of complete confusion as Grandma and their new Grandad were swing dancing next to the kitchen sink, but those of us on the Rapier side have had kitchen dancing (or dancing anywhere for that matter) as part of our lives for quite some time.



Finally, the glow of Christmas subsided and Shannon decided it was time to paint. So she went out Saturday night and bought a gallon of paint and begain painting on Monday. We attended the EAC Men's basketball tourney on Monday night to watch the Duncan/Thatcher game (which, alas, Duncan lost by 1 point). You can see here that prior to the game, Abby was claiming her allegiance. Also, last night, we finally got around to our hot dog and marshmallow roast with our new firepit. My favorite moment was when Logan roasted his first marshmallow and ate it. He then looked at me with this serious look and said, "I don't like that. I will just eat them plain." At which point, he shoved another whole marshmallow (unroasted) into his mouth. Several more followed suit.







It was a great holiday and we are sad to see it go. However, the true level of sadness will be felt when we have to get out of bed on Monday, Jan. 4 at 6:45.