Christmas + New Years

This was our second Christmas together, and even better than last year in my opinion. Zach was really considerate last year and let me spend my first Christmas with my family. So this year we spent Christmas with the Hendersons. I thought I would miss my family way too much, but the truth is...I laughed so hard on Christmas Eve that it seemed totally normal, and I truly loved every minute of it. Christmas Eve Zach and I hung out all day. I can't remember the last time we did that. We slept in (sort of) and watched movies and ate popcorn all morning. Zach would sit through a 4 hour documentary about space travel if he had a hot batch of popcorn. I think we actually ate two full bags. That evening we met up with Mark, Jeanene, Lori, Travis, Lola, and Olive for din at Outback Steakhouse. The dinner consisted of Mark giving us hints about what he got HIMSELF for Christmas. I believe the hints were, "it is mobile" and "it CAN be used in the snow" also "you can sit in it" oh and "it could be used at Outback Steakhouse." I guessed a snowmobile...in a snowstorm (that would be the only justification for Outback). We shared cheese fries, baked potato soup, and a slice of carrot cake. After dinner we did the annual Hendo tradition and went to a movie. We saw "Did You Hear About the Morgans". Sadly, Lor + Trav and Lola + Olive didn't attend the flick. The remainder of us really enjoyed the show. After the movie, we headed home to....open presents. (I hope my mother doesn't read this post.) Yeah, we opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve. In our defense, we don't have any kids, so the magic isn't in waiting till Christmas morning. We also had to be up really early to open presents at my parents' house. So here is pretty much how our adventure went....pictures speak louder than words.



PS3...check.



Xbox live for a year....check.



Madden '10....check.



The wireless bitty thing that makes it all possible...check.

I was at Best Buy buying all these gifts for Zach and asked a member of the infamous Geek Squad a few questions. This was the highlight of my Christmas season! The dialogue went like this...

Katie: "So I have the wireless thingy. The XBox live subscription. Now a PS3 and Call of Duty. So does he have everything he needs to play both systems live? What else should I have?"

Geek Squad Employee: "Well, how old is he?"

Katie: "How old is who?"

Geek Squad Employee: "Your son?"

Katie: "Oh, these gifts are for my husband. He's almost 25."

The kid was SO embarrassed he could not look me in the eyes. He thought the lucky gift recipient was a 10-year-old boy. And my son. I guess they really never grow up, right?



As for me, I got spoiled this Christmas. I got a brand new Burton snowboarding jacket, my brown boots, and some cute clothes! Well played Zach, well played.

The next morning we rushed off to my parents to open our gifts, and later to my grandpa's home for even more gifts. We made out with the entire Home Depot warehouse. We got shovels, a cooler, a ladder, a snowblower....for real. Home Depot. It was so great, it is exactly what we needed. Thanks fam!

The next stop on our road map to Christmas was O-Town to see the entire Henderson fam. Thanks Mark and Jeanene for a great Christmas meal and gifts. We had chicken kiev, a personal favorite of all the original Henderson offspring. What is chicken kiev...?



This is it, and Jeanene's was just as beautiful.

It was so fun to watch the grandkids open all their presents from Mimi and Papa. We also exchanged gifts with the adults. Thanks Lori for my awesome necklace and hat, and Rach and Chad for Zach's hilarous T-Shirt.



We ended the night by taking the long drive home, listening to Christmas Carols, and sealed the deal by watching a couple episodes of Jersey Shore when we got home. One word: Snookie.

Christmas was awesome. Some may say Christmas isn't as magical when you are an adult, but being married and having our own Christmas together is so great. Someday we'll have kids for me to go Christmas crazy with, but until then, I wouldn't change mine and Zach's Christmas for anything.

New Years wasn't as hectic, but we loved it. We both had to work but when we were off we stayed at home, shared a thin crust pizza, and watched the ball drop. On New Years Day we went to my Aunt's house for soup. The entire crew was there, friends and family all together. Football, friends, family and soup. Perfect.