It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

Wow! How has everyone's Christmas been? Ours has been wonderful! Here's the listing of events-
-26th-We're off to Steinbach, to my mom & dad's. It's been awhile since the whole family has been together, and today was the day. Mom, as always had done a great job of cooking. This year, she'd done more of her own baking/cooking, and theres nothing better than mom cooking from scratch. Of course, its handy to buy things, but there's nothing better than down home cooking. The chicken she did was amazing. She had baked cheesecakes, rhubarb and a cranberry cakey thing. MMMMMM! Excellent! Yes, we did the traditional sing-song, and the girls did a great job of leading. We even had to repeat some, as some family members thought they could skip out of the singing, but came back too early, while we were chatting, and Dad said, 'oh, they missed out, lets sing some songs again." So out came the guitars, and keyboard, and we sang again!! One of my nephews is into writing his own songs, and he performed two of his creations. He played guitar and sang two beautiful songs. He's amazing, he only started playing guitar a couple years ago, and has not taken lessons. He's a lesson in determination. Some of my neices, along with their father, also did a piece, and as always, was lovely! There's nothing like listening to a piece in 4 part harmony! Finally, after the singing, presents were exchanged, we ate again, and then the packing up! We stopped at a friends house for a few minutes, shopped at Walmart in the city, and then home to unload, and off to bed.
-27th-I started the day after a wonderful sleep in, by picking up Del 12 miles away, helping to set up an auger for loading the grain truck. Then home, to shower and pick up some nieces to go for a lunch date. Yes, we went all the way to ARborg, Chicken Chef for our date. I had a great time, catching up with them. Its an interesting stage of life, early twenties for them, and they're becoming such responsible adults. I love my nieces dearly. They're the closest I've got to my own girls. They've grown up just down the road, they've helped raise my boys, and they're very special! Two of them are studying in nursing, much against all my arguments! I think the more I discouraged them, the more determined they were to go into nursing. They should be well aware of the things they're going to face, after seeing what me and my family deal with, with shiftwork and all. Their other sister is working at present, and is dealing with getting into her program of choice this fall. Oh, the trials of growing up! They're a great group of sisters, and I love spending time with them. So, after lunch, its off to home to get ready for the traditional Barkman boys get together at our house. We invite a couple of Del's brothers, with their families, and we do a meal and a gift exchange. We had a table full of food-everyone contributed-and then we did a gift exchange. It was so much fun to see all the little boys playing together. Then we sat around the table, full of desserts, and had a wonderful visit!
-28th-a not so fun day. A dear friend of ours lost his mother this Christmas to a long fought battle of cancer/heart disease. So, we, a group of friends, went to his moms funeral, together.(did that sentence make any sense???) Funerals are always difficult. For me, its makes me re-evaluate my value in life. Anyway, we spent the afternoon, together with our friends, and that always makes everything easier. After the meal and program, we finally pulled our selves and our friends away from the visiting, and made our way home again. And everyone came in and I managed to warm up some leftovers and make some space in the fridge again! Another wonderful evening of visiting. I love our friends!

So here we are on Dec. 29, a quiet day at home, must be time to clean and do laundry. I'm on call the next two nights, and we have our last family gathering at Del's parents tomorrow. Did you ever imagine i would be so wordy with my posts?? I didn't. I guess its true, a woman says too many words; I guess I should speak more at home, and then I wouldn't be so full of words here! Have a good day everyone! Happy New Year!