Thanksgiving 2009

I'm bummed that I don't have a single photo of our most excellent Thanksgiving at the Wride's. Grandpa Barnard was in town for Thanksgiving this year, and we made sure to have graham crackers and milk with Great Gpa B, in keeping with tradition.


Another Thanksgiving tradition that started with Gpa B is the turkey trot. Turkey day found us making the rounds at the local middle school track. Daniel, it turns out, is quite the endurance runner. I think he ran 3 miles before tiring out. The rest of were a bit more leisurely in our athletic pursuits, but we did get the heart pumping and the appetites up for all the good food that followed. Before leaving the field, we even had a mini football game.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to see a production of "The Nutcracker" at the Kennedy Center. It was Maddie's first time going to the ballet, and she was fantastic. She has told Spencer he can go next year because by then HE will be 5. We also saw the McGanns, from our neck of the woods, at the performance. This was exciting because we made a mention in Eva's blog!

Candy Lane at Hershey Park

In early December, we went up to Hershey, PA to visit our good friends the Jurgensmeiers. Darin is up there for his residency, and Linsy is one of my college roomies, so that is our original connection. They are some of our FAVORITE people, and we had a blast exploring Hershey Park with them. Spencer had a great time playing with Tate, and Emma loved helping baby Beau in any way possible.


Now, Jurgensmeiers, when can we convince you to come to VA for a visit??

Snuggies and Scooters

Sometimes, you come upon a themed Christmas. This year's are worth a mention.

On the Wride side, all the grandkids got new scooters!


And on the Cummings side, it was a Snuggie Christmas. That's right - the blanket with sleeves!

Christmas 2009

Let me tell you a little story. I married Adam, master of surprise (need proof? Just ask me about the details of our engagement story). I love Adam, and every time a gift-giving opportunity comes up, I think about how much fun it will be to get him the PERFECT gift and see that PERFECT moment when he opens the gift at the appointed time.

Well, I give up. I cannot succeed in surprising him. It is NOT meant to be. Seriously. Here's the recent track record...

A few years ago, Adam mentioned in passing that he would love to have one of the old Atari or Nintendo systems. I didn't make a big deal of it, but tucked that little piece of info away and started scouring ebay. We were in the early stages of entrepreneurial life (translation: no money), so I got creative and looked on Freecycle too. I had a few leads, but nothing came through. After months of searching, there it was: an original Nintendo system with a few games to boot! We were leaving town the next day for an extended stay with some CA relatives, so I engaged the help of my awesome mother-in-law to procure the package. She tucked it away to save it for Christmas. Six or seven months pass, and one Saturday evening in November while I am busy preparing a lesson for Relief Society, Adam decides he is going to do a good deed and goes up to clean out the garage so his dad can park the car inside since the mornings are frosty. He quickly returns, exclaiming, "Look what my mom has had all this time!" I look up to see him holding the box with the Nintendo, Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Tetris, the controls...even that little gun thing. I am so distraught that he has discovered it that I can do nothing in the way of covering my disappointment. "Oops," he replies. "I wasn't supposed to find this, was I?" Fail #1

More time passes, and Adam's birthday rolls around. I decide to get him a Roku - which is a great little box that enables you to view Netflix "Watch Instantly" on your television. We have a tradition of family movie night that Adam started and all of us love, so it was, once again, a perfect gift. We had moved out of the Wride's basement, and since Adam works from home I made the stealthy decision to have his gift sent to the Wride's home instead of ours...just to avoid him answering the door when the package arrived. Well, we still go to the Wride's house for dinner once a week. You guessed it. The UPS guy just happened to have some late deliveries that summer day, and Adam just happened to be the one to answer the door, look at the label on the package, and immediately he saw the company name at the top: ROKU. "Um, Marie...I think this is for you." Fail #2

This Christmas, I decide to give it another go. Adam's work laptop is dying, and I know that it is one of his resolutions for the year to make a MAC his work machine, so I make the arrangements. His parents and I decide to go in together to get him a new laptop. I pick out the right one, hide all of the e-mails of confirmation and put Adam on strict orders not to check credit card statements or e-mail accounts. I again have the computer shipped to the Wride's house in hopes of better success this time. It arrives without Adam suspecting a thing. Then, one day in early December, he comes out from the office all cheery and announces, "Guess what! My boss is going to buy me a new laptop as a Christmas bonus! And I get to pick it out!" I try to summon up a normal, happy response because I really am quite proud of him. He works hard, and it is always good to be recognized for that...and OF COURSE I am happy to let his boss pay for the laptop since he's offering, but there it is. Fail #3. That night, we go over to the Wride's, and Adam gets to open his present early...


So, I have officially given up hope of trying to surprise Adam. However, that does make moments like this all the more cherished. He DID NOT expect this fun Argentine soccer jersey. See! An actual, legitimate look of surprise.

He was happy with the gift, and I was happy with the reaction.

Here is Spencer playing with the Geotrax Santa brought. It was hard to get him to pose for a picture. He was so intent on making new tracks and maneuvering the trains that we got more focused photos than anything.

This is Emma with a fun book from her cousin Maddie. This book combines her two great passions: books and music. It has a little piano at the bottom so you can play songs of your own or follow the music in the book to play the princess songs. It's been an absolute favorite!

Here's a little overhead of the Christmas morning extravaganza. I love spending Christmas with the Wrides. They are all great, giving people, and it is fun to celebrate with them. (In fact, we were having so much fun with everyone after staying over Christmas eve, we spent the next two nights on an air mattress in the basement just so we wouldn't miss out on all the good times!) Anyone for a repeat performance sometime soon? We miss you all!

Air and Space Museum

Eager to find indoor outings that would get us all out of the house but enable us to stay out of the cold, we settled on a Wride family trip to the local Air and Space Museum. Spencer and Maddie had a good time matching the pictures on the descriptions of what we were seeing to the actual missiles, etc. on display. Harrison and Emma did a good job of running Grandpa through the paces in the rafters of the museum, and Emily did an awesome job of keeping up with Daniel and Ryan. (Emily - did I ever tell you, you're my hero???)

A grand time was had by all. A special thanks goes out to Brock, Kate, and Laura who, without the nudge of parental responsibility, played major roles in entertaining and keeping track of 6 children.

Johnson cousins

Because the Cummings' home was quite full over New Year's, we got to play host to my sister Jenny and her family. She and Nathan live up in NJ and have two little ones: Issac and Lily. We stayed up REALLY late talking and laughing the first night, and had a great time with their family.

Here I am (I know...uber-prego looking, but this is baby #3) with my cute sis Jenny and her baby Lily.


Isaac was so happy to be reunited with his buddy Grandpa B. They spent a lot of time together when the Johnsons lived in UT, and that bond continues to be strong one. (Gpa used to serve Isaac muffins and grapefruit on a near-daily basis, so they share lots of good memories).


This is one of my favorite moments, captured on camera. My mom and dad really love being grandparents. When we all showed up at their house, they scooped up little Lily to get some cuddle time and both were a little teary-eyed to hold their sweet granddaughter again.


Once everyone had said their hellos, it was time for some more present opening. Christmas occurred in stages this year. Each time a new segment of the family would show up, it was time to open the gifts that were to and from those individuals. Here's a little snippet of the opening action.


And finally, another favorite picture from our visit with the Johnsons. Emma was so thrilled that she and Lily were "same, same" in their heart outfits. I can see these girls being close as they grow up. On the Cummings side, these are the only two girl cousins as of yet, and since it looks like our next baby is a boy...no reinforcements in sight.

New Year's Eve 2009

Just a note for anyone who is just starting to read. I am binge blogging today in reverse chronological order.

New Year's Eve we split between our house and my parents'. We started with a day of games, food, and fun. Then we headed back to our place with the intent of putting the little ones down for bed so we could stay up and ring in the New Year. Cousins Isaac and Lily were quite cooperative...as was Emma. All three were tuckered out after a long day. Spencer, however, came down in his pajamas when the rest of the family showed up to continue the party. He remembered staying up last year to drink sparkling cider and stuff 12 grapes into his mouth at the stroke of midnight. When a 4 year-old kid has a memory this good, and his negligent parents let him stay up as a 3 year-old, what are they to do but repeat the pattern? So, Adam went off to Harris Teeter to buy some last minute party supplies (how could forget the grapes!), and we all put on our game faces until countdown time. The high school aged kids were all the at the New Years' dance, but we got to hang out with all of the grown kids. Aaron even joined us on his way home from working some crazy hours at a DC law firm, and Melinda's friend Breann hung out with us as well. (See...we are cool enough for college kids).

Games we played waiting for the New Year:
Operation
Don't Break the Ice
Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots
Uno
Condotierre
That one that starts with M...the one Sarah always wins

What else am I missing, gang?

Here's a quick snapshot of our group about to drink cider and eat grapes at midnight.