Christmas in Sainte Genevieve

Christmas in Sainte Genevieve this year was very nice :) Derrick and I got there around 11pm on Friday night...we kind of took our time after work; we had extra Christmas shopping to do and we went to dinner. When we got there EVERYONE was there already including Tyson, Elisha, Erin, and Krissy, so we visited with them for a while. Below the picture is of Lincoln Cole...he walks everywhere now! The picture to the right is on Jonathan, he is such a happy baby and is adorable :)

Derrick's brother, Matt, has finally finished his Bachelor's degree!! On Saturday morning, we were all sitting in the family room waiting to open presents and Matt walked out with a cap and gown on...Sandy made him do it! His graduation present was Mike and Sandy getting his deer mounted for him that he shot a few weeks ago. Matt worked really hard for a good couple of years to finish his degree...while handling his 3 kids and a full-time job, he did it and it's a great thing! Derrick's dad Mike said a little speech when Matt was standing there that really hit home...he talked about how all adults in the room (there was 8 of us) had graduated from college, 4 of them with their Masters, 1 with her Specialist, and 1 very close to a Doctorate. It's a very cool thing. Not a lot of families have that.

Let's just say presents were fun...as you can see below Derrick got one thing he asked for...an adult size onesie. He looked so funny. He loved it so much he stayed in it until 4pm. Everyone got great gifts, one of my favorites is my new Cardinals jersey from Mike and Sandy, oh yeah...and the Cardinals tickets Mindy and Andy got me and Derrick and Matt and Kim!! All 6 of us are going to the game on May 23rd then going out in STL! However, I have to brag about the gift that Kim MADE me. There's a place in Springfield that you can paint your own dishes, bowls, etc. Kim painted me two mixing/serving bowls that had all different words on them. They said things like, 'girlfriend' 'sidekick' 'confidante' 'sister-in-law' 'family' and finally 'mrs. stewart!' After I was done reading all the words Kim started to explain to everyone that those words were: to tell me what I am to her. It was very touching.

Later that evening, we did heavy appetizers and played rather interesting games...the first one is that each couple had to take the toilet plunger in put it in one's legs and try and get a toilet paper role on the stick, and whoever did it the fastest won. Derrick and I lost :( ...really bad! The next game was better, each couple had to write lyrics to a Christmas song in regards to the family. Let's just say, Derrick and I's song was hilarious, we choose 'Frosty the Snowman' and changed it to 'Poppy the Big Man.' Afterwards we all went downstairs and played the longest dominoes game of my life. We played until 1:30 in the morning!!! That game is way too long for me.

Beetle Bailey thinks she's such a hit with the binky in her mouth. Although it was pretty funny.

Sundays are always my favorite. We left Ste.Gen around noon, so we had the whole day to unpack, lounge around and watch TV! Our friends Travis and Lindsey stopped by for a while so we got to visit with them. Now I am enjoying my tree while listening to the very loud and fast wind going on outside the window...thank goodness we are inside because it is FREEZING!!!