The Kohlmans

By the end of Christmas week, we were pretty tired, but not too tired to celebrate again. This time we were in Moundridge for Loganbill Christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was the first time our whole family has been together in years - but somehow we didn't manage to get any pictures of the whole crew, my one regret from the day. Don't worry - the garage is heated, so brunch was quite pleasant. It was nice to have the extra space to spread out. Even during the moments of mass chaos, it was nice to have everyone in the same place for a little while. I'm hoping it's not years before we're all together again... but I guess we'll see. (Make sure you don't miss Christmas on the Farm and Christmas Eve & Day posts below!)

We headed out to the farm the morning of the 26th. My whole family was there, which is always fun. For as long as I can remember, we've had cherry rolls for breakfast on Christmas. They are my favorite.   After breakfast we opened gifts. A couple years ago, my siblings decided to go with a grab bag gift exchange. It's a lot easier than buying gifts for everyone and it's fun. When we were little, my mom would buy end rolls of newsprint from The Newton Kansan and wrap our birthday gifts in them. She decorated the paper with her doodles. A few years ago she did it for a Christmas surprise... so I requested that she do a few again.  Apparently opening this gift required lots of focus... Brad had the idea. Daniel carried it out. We wrapped dad's gift (two gift cards) in a box that he had to unscrew to open. It was hilarious... especially when he pretended that the drill had died and he couldn't get the very last screw out.  Another hig...

Brad and I counted yesterday. This year we got to celebrate 6 Christmases (if you count the two of us together, which we do), and we even missed a couple more because of our schedule. Then I got curious and went back in time to count... the first year or two we were married, we had 9 separate Christmas celebrations, all of which we attended. Crazy. We only made it to all 9 that one year. We are very, very blessed to have so many opportunities to share this season with our families. Kohlman Christmas (with Brad's grandpa, uncles, aunts, cousins) is usually about a week before Christmas. This year we got together on the 16th at Barb & Jeff's new house in Cottonwood Falls. They have the perfect place for big family get-togethers. This was at home that morning before we left - about 27 weeks. There's always plenty of food... As usual, we got fantastic gifts from Brad's aunts and uncles and had a great time visiting with everyone (and playi...

Last Saturday we got together with my mom's side of the family to celebrate Christmas. In February. We picked out some "new" colors for cabin paint updates, and proofread the new cabin guidebook. We ate some amazing food. (As usual.)  We watched the KU game, visited, and just spent some time together. It just wasn't the same (without Sarah & Jamie, Hannah & Jason,or  Genet), but it was a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

This past Wednesday we finally got around to celebrating Christmas with my family on the farm.  We ended the day with a few family pictures. Dad's surprise gift this year was a KJK Farms fleece blanket (anti-static, pet hair resistant) for each of us. The surprise was definitely a highlight, as usual!

Every year, my Grandma Lu's brothers and sisters get together for an amazing potluck and great fellowship. This year was Grandma's turn to host the gathering. It was a little bit smaller than usual, but that just meant more amazing food for me. Highlights from the day included watching the little kids play, seeing Grandma with all six of her living siblings (there were nine who lived to adulthood - at least one or two from each family were there), visiting with Jody (who I'd never really talked to in person before, just via our blogs), watching Gracie, Jada, and Sidney sing (BRAVE girls!), and just spending time with my amazing extended family.

I have some catching up to do... We spent the 23rd and 24th in Lyndon, celebrating with Jeff, Barb, Leah, and Justin. We took Jazzy with us. She behaved better at their house than at ours... She kept trying to make friends with the cats, but they weren't having it. Maybe some other time.   We hung out, ran around town a little, ate, and opened presents.  It was a pretty low-key weekend.

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” -Cicero Every year, for as long as I can remember, my mom has "stuffed" a package of thank you cards into our stockings, among a variety of other useful items. (hint, hint, mom.) Whether it's a not-so-subtle hint or something inexpensive to add, I'm not sure. Either way, it's handy to have a stack in the desk drawer. And, it's a good reminder. (Here's your fair warning: I might rant in the coming paragraphs.) Speaking of thanks, I've been wondering for the past year or so... Since when did writing a thank you for a gift become optional? Maybe I'm old-fashioned in this respect. And maybe thank-yous are completely outdated or optional, in an age of texting and email and expected gifts. But I think not. At least, they shouldn't be. I'll be the first to admit that I love receiving gifts. Yes, I know that "it's better to give th...

Yesterday was Kohlman Christmas. After great food and lots of presents, the day ended with attempts to recreate a picture from 20-some years ago... Pretty much the same thing, right?!

Yes, I know we're still a few days away. But I've gotta say it if I'm gonna post about all my Christmas decorations. (I have to admit that I used to be a Scrooge... or is it Grinch? about "no Christmas before Thanksgiving." Not anymore. I don't know exactly why or how my perspective changed, but it did.) I love, love, love decorating for Christmas. I started asking Brad if I could get things out on Halloween. He said no. Lots of times. He finally gave in a couple days before Thanksgiving. I actually wasn't going to take many pictures of my decorations and tree this year. I asked myself, Who needs Christmas tree pictures every year?!  ...especially since the tree is the exact same kind as last year with the exact same ornaments. But then, I was reading a few blogs. People were posting about their own Christmas decorations. And I read phrases like "my theme this year" and "blends perfectly with my home decor." Seriously?! In ...