I’d have to say that the Christmas Season 2011 has probably been my busiest season ever.

Along with the regular daily grind we’ve been preparing for dear hubby’s homecoming and everything that entails to spending as much quality time as a family, to getting quarterly business taxes done!

Tomorrow evening we’ll have Christmas eve dinner here after the Christmas eve service at church. There should be about 13 of us. We’ll have turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings including pumpkin pie! Yum!

We’ve been crafting, some baking (but not NEAR enough  yet…

Most we made was sent off to family and now we’ve got none. lol Time to get at it again!) and doing lots of sewing.

After we picked Graydon up from the airport on Wed. afternoon, we headed straight out to finally get our Christmas tree. This is the latest we’ve ever gotten one. Normally we like to put it up around the twins birthday on Dec. 8th, and leave it up until about Elsa’s birthday on Jan. 11th. Due to finances and time constraints there was just no way we could get it early. Some friends blessed us recently, and we finally got the tree this week! Yay! It looks so pretty and now our home finally feels seasonal!

Now we just need some snow. Looks like the forecast has other plans though. Rain, rain, and more rain.

Christmas day is going to be spent home, with just us, since we’re having our big dinner on Christmas Eve. This will actually be quite nice, as Graydon leaves again at about 5am the very next morning. I am so VERY grateful that he’s home for Christmas but what a whirlwind of time as well. I was not able to take the full time ‘off’ as we had hoped, plus there’s always so much that needs to be done with Dad/Husband home for just a few days. Stuff like those taxes, cleaning out the well filter, even silly things like changing burnt out light bulbs and random outside tidying that never seems to get done when he’s not home. There’s just never enough time for everything, PLUS lots of good quality family time. At least not as much as you’d like when you’re husband has spent EIGHT months of the last year away.

But I suppose that IS our life right now. 2011 has proven to be a year like none other in this family’s history. One for the record books for sure. I’m impressed that we’ve survived, but very hopefull 2012 will bring about some changes and bring our family back under one roof again!