This week has just been absolutely crazy. I was looking forward to having time to relax and do nothing over break, but it has been the exact opposite! I love my family, but they are all so exhausting to deal with. Wednesday night, my Grandma and Grandpa Dreessen (from Ogallala) came to stay with us. It was so awesome to see them. I miss them so much, and as much as we annoy them sometimes, they miss us a lot as well. As I was cleaning the house Wednesday morning I was thinking about how awesome it was to have them live just down the road from us, to be able to see their house from our house. During the summer, I would make a batch of cookies, and I would use that as an excuse to go see Grandma. I would pack four cookies up in a container, and drive over to Grandma's. Grandpa would be at work, so Grandma and I would sit in her living room and talk for hours. One time I forgot to tell Mom that I was going to Grandma's, and she freaked out when she couldn't find me. Then she looked out the window and saw the truck over at Grandma's and figured it out. She said she was about ready to call the cops. Oh, I love my family.
Then on Thursday, my Aunt Betsy and Uncle Darren (aka: Uncle Fuzzy) came here with their adorable 6 year old twin daughters Elizabeth (Libby) and Olivia (Livvy). They came all the way from Moorhead, Minnesota. The twins are absolutely obsessed with Rudy, except they have a heavy northern accent so it sounds more like "Wooody" when they say his name. It is absolutely adorable.
On Friday night, the whole Dreessen family was at our house. My grandparents, us, Darren and Betsy's family, and Gerred and Amanda's family. It was great to have the whole family together. Gerred and Amanda have 4 kids: Sarrah (3rd grade), Matthew (4), William (2), and the newest addition to the family, Ellijah (6 months). Being the oldest grand child, it was my responsibility to keep the peace all night while the parents and grandparents talked. Rudy and Izzy did a very good job managing the older kids while I handled Ellijah and William. Poor little Ellijah was sick. I was pooped on, peed on, vomited on, slobbered on, and sneezed on all night. My clothes were disgusting, and I smelled terrible that night. After 3 hours of holding that baby, he finally fell asleep. The trick is to sing softly to him, with his head cradled near your neck. I started doing that 2 and a half hours into it. I don't know why I didn't think about that at first. There is nothing that melts your heart more than hold a sweet, sleeping baby. It brought tears to my eyes. He was so cute!
Saturday we had the official Dreessen family Christmas at Gerred and Amanda's house in Omaha. It was absolutely wonderful, and I got to be the baby watcher again. Distance is a great burden on my family, but we always enjoy our time together.
Darren and Betsy continued to stay with us until this afternoon. They went to church with us this morning, and the twins looked absolutely adorable in their little Sunday dresses. During the worship part of the service, Libby pushed her way past Rudy and Livvy and came to stand by me while we sang. Soon after, so grabbed my leg and just stood their like that for the rest of worship, it was so cute. After that she motioned for me to bring my head closer to her so she could tell me something. She whispered in my ear, "Annatayyshha, I like it when you and Wooody sing. Y'all sound pretty." It was so cute.
They left this afternoon, and soon after they left I went into "I'll get this house cleaned if it's the death of me" mode. The house is clean. Mom and Rudy are arguing about some football game on TV (it's purple vs. green... that's all I know.) Izzy and Elle are cleaning their rooms, and Gregory is stoking up the wood stove and bringing in more firewood. I am working on letters and writing this while sipping some coffee! (Rather than helping me with my coffee addiction, my family fed into it by buying me some new pretty coffee cups for Christmas...) It's a typical Sunday afternoon. I am content.
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