On the Seventh Day of Christmas~

Whew! Am I glad that we only had six days of Christmas this year! It was a fun but exhausting time. There was a reason that God said he rested on the seventh day...

(even the baby was exhausted--he slept all night, then later than normal in the morning, followed by a 3 1/2 hour nap--we are lucky if he gets 1 hour normally, followed by another 1 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon--we are lucky if he gets any, and he still went to bed at the normal time of 6:30 p.m.)

On the Sixth Day of Christmas~

My true Love gave to me ~ six grilled cheese sandwiches, five courses at dinner, four birthday presents, three games of Dutch Blitz, two dancing nephews, and a sweet baby under the Christmas tree.

This sixth day brought a relaxing morning--several sick/fighting off sickness after 4 very busy days! The elder Weylers and the Leeds packed for their flight back to D.C. After some grilled cheese sandwiches (recipe below) and a word of prayer, they were on the road to catch their flight...but not before capturing a picture of the three remaining (of the 5) Michael Weylers.

Margaret's Grilled Cheese

• Bread
• Butter
• Cheese, we use extra sharp White Cheddar
• Sliced Tomatoes
• Sprinkled Basil

ENJOY!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas~

My true love gave to me ~ five courses at dinner, four birthday presents, three games of Dutch Blitz, two dancing nephews, and a sweet baby under the Christmas tree.

The fifth day started with the boys getting up early to head back out to the golf course for another round of golf--this time minus the rain. Sarah, Mom, and I headed south to Susan's and spent the afternoon with her. MD sampled lemon water from my glass for the first time. He was thrilled! (and the next day he tried to grab my glass as I was drinking) Later that afternoon, after the boys' naptimes we went to a local park where all three children (yes, I did say three) played on the playground. MD didn't care too much about the bouncy horse or the slide, but LOVED the swing!!! He made his noises showing how content he was. In fact, as it was getting late and he did not get too much of a nap earlier, he settled into the swing for a nap until I woke him up so that he would indeed sleep at night too. That evening, we enjoyed a few snacks at home after the grown boys showed up a little tanner and more tired. Then, we left MD, Colin, and Caleb with a babysitter and headed to a late dinner at Maggiano's. This time it was Michael's siblings and families, his parents, as well as a close friend- Alicia- and Paul's parents, Omalu and Dudley. We enjoyed four+ more courses there with far too much food. We sampled everything including stuffed mushrooms, fried calamari, spinach salad, Maggiano's special salad, yummy bread, lasagne, lemon salmon, chicken saltimbocca (the general consensus for favorite), and pesto chicken, and for dessert--creme brulee and tiramisu. Another late night and home again to crash in bed.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas~

My true love gave to me ~ four birthday presents, three games of Dutch Blitz, two dancing nephews, and a sweet baby under the Christmas tree.

Well, you may have figured out...the fourth day of our family "Christmas" was actually Michael's birthday! We spent the morning in church and came home to chill out for a couple of hours before the party started again. Mid afternoon, family friends of ours, Kevin and Julie and their daughter Chloe, came over. Kevin is a fantastic photographer, among his many other skills. He took by far the best photos (professional quality) of us at our wedding even though he just showed up for about 15 minutes at the reception. We decided this was a good year to have our pictures taken since we were all together as a group. Each family unit wore a different color. The three boys were not very cooperative, but I am still excited to see the pictures when he is finished. K, J, and C stayed for dinner along with Cori again and my brother Andrew and wife Shayna. That made 16+MD for pizza dinner. Why pizza? If you have to ask, you don't know Michael too well... After dinner, Michael opened his birthday presents and we lit sparklers. Then time for another rousing game of Dutch Blitz. Happy Birthday, old timer!

On the Third Day of Christmas~

My true love gave to me ~ three games of Dutch Blitz, two dancing nephews, and a sweet baby under the Christmas tree.

We awoke early the third day in order to get on and about the day, our extended family "Christmas Day."

The grown boys headed down to Heron Lakes to play a round of golf, scramble style. Meanwhile, Sarah, Mom, MD, and I went for an hour's walk down to Collin's Park and along the bayou. I have never taken that walk and had wanted to since they opened the trail that goes from Collin's Park to Meyer Park. While we didn't make it to Meyer Park, the part we were on was very wild and beautiful (but paved all the way) I would not recommend walking there alone as it is a bit remote, but a lovely walk with others. Susan & Co. showed up as soon as we got home, and the preparations for dinner began. We managed to pull off a very large meal with three children underfoot. Everyone was so helpful! And of course, we had our typical Baked Brie with apricot glaze that is Michael's long-standing request. Cori, Sarah's best friend, showed up just in time for dinner. Oh, and as did the boys...rather wetter than before.

After dinner, we opened Christmas gifts. The highlight of the gifts was probably the wall letters that Sarah and Rich received to spell out their last name--LEED. See pictures below to see why it was such a highlight. One other highlight was the two packs of Dutch Blitz that we received from Sarah and Rich. (some of you may know this game as Nertz) We played that well into the night and for the next several days. Michael and Andrew (my bro) were the consistent champions. The evening ended on Channel 17, Gems TV. Michael introduced me to this channel. As evening entertainment when we feel like a good laugh, we will sit and watch Brooke. (their prime time seller) I figure it is a lot cleaner than anything else we could be watching and we are not even in the slightest tempted to buy anything. We introduced Rich and Sarah to this quirky amusement and believe it or not, we spent the last hour before bed watching her try to sell various gems.