Last Friday, we had our first Gambler Gals naming since I've been a part of the squadron. Most of the ladies here have never been to a spouse naming before, so I helped a bit with the planning. It was fun seeing what things are the same, and what things are different in a Stateside squadron. We did not go quite so over the top as the Fiendettes do, but we still had fun decorating the place with Gambler themed goodies, and telling stories about our two friends who volunteered to be the first namees.
The night began with dinner and desserts. Then we had some great entertainment provided by the two ladies we were naming. I'm glad they were both good sports and willing to make us laugh! After that, we moved into the formal naming. I think both ladies were a little nervous and didn't know what to expect, but they did great! Most of the ladies in the crowd were a little shy about speaking up and sharing stories, but by the end of the night everyone was into it and having fun.
I was mostly thankful for an opportunity to hang out with my friends and get to know them better. Things have been a little rocky around here, socially, and so it was great being a part of a good squadron bonding experience! (I also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get out and spend time with friends without a baby in arms. Late night shenanigans will be much more difficult starting in a few weeks!!!)
Our close friends, the Cienskis, invited us to spend the night with them on New Year's Eve so we could all ring in the New Year together. (They live in Columbia, so we would have had to leave right after dinner if we wanted to drive home and put Kaden to bed here.) We could not think of people we'd rather hang out with and gladly accepted their invite. It was a great, casual evening in. We watched college football, made homemade pizza and had good conversation while the boys played with toys and chased each other all over the house. I still love how well these little best friends for life get along!
Since we missed the opportunity to take a picture of the growing pair in their Christmas jammies the week prior, we made sure to snap this year's photo right before bed. They are too funny!
Kaden's first sleep-over would have gone off without a hitch if it weren't for an unexpected Southern tradition...
Right after Christmas, James and I were surprised to see a whole bunch of little fireworks stands pop up all over the place. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there was one on almost every street corner, and in every large parking lot or shopping center. That's something we'd expect to see around the 4th of July, but couldn't imagine there was much of a market for sparklers and firecrackers in the middle of the winter. Apparently, it's a big thing around here to shoot off fireworks in your back yard on New Year's Eve... Coming from two states with very high fire danger, this was a total shock to James and myself. But with all of the rain we keep getting, I guess the local government is OK with it.
Now, I probably would have been annoyed if everyone shot them off around midnight... It would have likely woken us up and frightened the boys. But then we'd shrug it off as an understandable holiday celebration and settle back down. Unfortunately, we did not get off so easy. The fireworks in Caleb and Jordan's neighborhood started around 8 pm and did not stop till about 2 am. Literally, the loud booms and high pitched whistles of firecrackers exploding in the little park across the street was CONSTANT. For 6 hours straight. The boys were upset by them at first and had a hard time going to sleep initially. But then, amazingly, slept through most of the noise. The adults were not so lucky. It was a very, very long night. Memorable, but not enjoyable in the least. Hopefully next year we'll find a way to manage the noise and get some shut-eye. But - needless to say - we rang 2016 in with many BANGS and began the New Year with a strong need for a nap.
Christmas this year was really fun. Now that Kaden is old enough to sort of understand what's going on, we all found ways to get into the Christmas spirit and celebrate in memorable ways. He loved decorating, listening to Christmas music, watching holiday movies and seeing all the lights strung up around town when we went out. The night before Christmas Eve ("Christmas Adam" as our friends call it), we celebrated the start of James' holiday break by going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, and then driving back through the Swan Lake Fantasy of Lights one more time. It's incredible what a good memory Kaden has. Even now, anytime we're driving down the road that leads to Swan Lake, he starts talking about going to see the lights. I'm glad he was able to appreciate some of the "magic" of Christmas!
My memory of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year mostly centers around food. Since we didn't have family coming to town or big plans with friends, I decided to make the holiday special for me (and the baby) by indulging in some special meals and snacks. That may have meant I spent most of Christmas Eve in the kitchen. But hey, it was worth it!
One of our family's Christmas traditions is having a big brunch with Star Wars pancakes after opening gifts. However, some friends from church had invited us over for brunch on Christmas day, so we made our edible X-Wings and TIE Fighters first thing on Christmas Eve instead. After that, Kaden helped me make some yummy muffins. For lunch, I recreated one of our favorite dishes from Thai 2, the restaurant we visited weekly in Osan. It was ALMOST perfect, and definitely worth the effort. Curried pineapple chicken fried rice with cashew nuts - incredible! Then I threw a pot roast in the crock pot to enjoy after our church's evening candlelight service.
While I was busy in the kitchen, the boys found other ways to entertain themselves, including playing daddy's trumpet again, and watching the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the 5th or 6th time. (Kaden thinks Max the dog is hilarious!)
That evening, we got dressed up and attended our Church's unique brand of Christmas Eve service. Only in the South do you have church outdoors, in the woods, sitting in camp chairs around a bonfire! They kept it short for the sake of those with littles (which we much appreciated). But we still enjoyed a full service complete with scripture readings, a short sermon, lots of Christmas carols, communion and - of course - a candle lighting. Poor Kaden demanded he have his own cheese stick (white, cylindrical, waxy looking thing we were all holding - hahaha.) In the end we compromised by letting him help hold daddy's candle and blow both of ours out after the music was finished.
After church, we enjoyed our Christmas roast, and then it was off to bed with the little man so we could prepare for the morning! It's been fun creating new traditions with our family over the last few years, and I think one of my new favorites was born from necessity this year. Kaden was remarkably good about not messing with the Christmas tree too much, so I felt OK about having it out in the open living room. However, James and I agreed that placing gifts under the tree as they arrived would be too much of a temptation. So we hid them all away until after Kaden had gone to sleep on Christmas Eve. That way, when he woke up Christmas morning, he'd be blown away by the stacks of pretty packages all laid out for us! It was certainly fun seeing his surprise when he woke up to this idyllic sight:
We began the day by opening our stockings. We put some lifelike animal figurines in his, which he loved playing with while we waited to open the "big presents". Then, after breakfast, we read the Christmas story from daddy's "big Bible" before starting in on the loot. Kaden doesn't look very happy about having to sit and read, but don't let the serious look fool you - he loved it and now asks us to read the Bible every night at the dinner table. =^)
Then, it was time for presents. As usual, we were spoiled by our loving family - thank you! We especially appreciated having a couple of gifts to open from Kaden (created and wrapped with a little help from his preschool teachers!) Kaden, of course, loved his toys and books and would have happily camped out there on the rug with his new trains, if we didn't insist on having him walk up stairs with us to see the surprise gift James sneakily moved into his room earlier that morning. His eyes were wide as he surveyed his new, gigantic train table. Of course, all spare time for the next several days were spent up in his room playing with Thomas and his friends. I think both of my boys will get many, many hours of enjoyment out of this extensive train set!
"Mistletoes" artwork Kaden made for us!
We saved the trains for last. He was so excited!
Video of Kaden being surprised by his train table.
Remarkable that he remembered the big suspension bridge from
our 4th of July trip to Charleston this summer!
After about an hour of playing with the train set, we all got dressed and headed over to Todd and Ingrid Solberg's house for brunch. They host our couple's Bible study and traditionally invite whoever wants to come to a big brunch buffet at their house on Christmas day. We enjoyed spending some time with church friends, and Kaden enjoyed being fawned-over by the older folks and their teenagers. We introduced him to the joys of french toast and bacon. He and his baby sister very much enjoyed their meal. ;^)
The rest of the day was pretty laid-back. I made a nice Christmas dinner for us with ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn and rolls. Then - in an attempt to keep the day Christ-focused - we baked, decorated, and lit up a special cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus before dessert. I think Kaden had a great time and keeps asking to "do Christmas again!" I couldn't agree more. Thankfully, we have a few exciting things coming up to help us get over our post-holiday blues. Can't wait till the gift of our baby girl arrives in a few weeks!
Christmas arrived a little early for us, thanks to a special surprise visit from a certain bearded fellow bearing gifts. In mid-December, James asked Kaden what he wanted for Christmas. Immediately, he answered: "UNCLE NATE!" We were touched and amused by his answer and told Nate what he said. He may have already been considering swinging by before flying back to CO for Christmas, but regardless - he made an effort to make Kaden's Christmas wish come true. What a guy!
Aside from playing with his nephew, I know part of Nate's motivation was to join us as we went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the first time, and to watch a Broncos game with us. We had a great time going out to dinner and seeing the movie with him on Saturday evening. He had already seen it on opening day but knew it was worth seeing again (multiple times). He was right! My husband, the avid Star Wars fan, was satisfied, and that's saying a lot!
The next morning, Nate joined us for lunch after church, and then spent Kaden's nap time helping James assemble Kaden's big, surprise Christmas gift. After Kaden woke up, it was time for the Broncos game to start! Uncle Nate pulled a few special presents out which helped make the game even more fun! For the grown-ups, a couple bottles of Butter Beer (non-alcoholic cream soda inspired by a drink in the Harry Potter books - very fun and tasty!). For Kaden - his very own, authentic Broncos jersey! He wore his "Uncle Nate Boncos Shirt" with pride as he cheered on our team!
Over all, we were so happy to spend some quality time with family around the holidays - even if it was just a brief overnight visit a few days before Christmas. It means a lot that Kaden has seen Nate enough to start building a relationship with him (something that is very difficult with our transient AF lifestyle). They played and rough housed, red books and snuggled on the couch together. It broke my heart when we had to say good bye that night. Seeing Kaden cling to Nate and give him a big farewell hug was so sweet! Thankfully, he's a resilient little guy and didn't cry for too long afterward. Hopefully we'll see Crazy Uncle Nate again soon after the baby's born!
