This year was new for us. We stayed home and did not travel. Most of the Strong side of the family traveled to Boise. We had a week of partying from Sunday to Sunday. AshLee and Patrick were the first to arrive. The girls really enjoyed getting to know them (AKA "Pretty AshLee").
Terrell cooked up the traditional Lutefisk and Potato Sausage. After dinner and gifts on Christmas Eve, we played white elephant Bingo. This has become one of my favorite traditions. I was the provider of the gift that no one wanted this year In fact, Roy kept paying it forward until we were finally stuck with it in the end. I would imagine that gift will end up in the Bingo pile next year. What is an ice cream keeper you ask? It is a $40 (I paid $2 on clearance) plastic container that keeps ice cream frozen. Who does not need one of those?
Kevin played Santa passing out the gifts this year. He was joined by two very excited elf's.
Here are the elf's with their cousins AshLee and Patrick.
Sidney SO wanted a white Christmas this year. It had been raining in Boise and all of the snow had melted off. Sure enough...right after she opened her new coat from Grandma, she opened the door and it had been snowing outside. Merry Christmas Sid!
The girls spent two solid days preparing a special gift for all of us. They worked tirelessly on the backdrop (4 bottles of glue and several cardboard boxes later). They sang songs from Frozen and put on quite a performance. Kendall had even asked me to take her to the dollar store so she could buy a tiara for the performance. She was even willing to spend her own money which is a true sign of dedication.
Kendall's prize gift was the Magic 8 Ball she won at Bingo. Now she has help making all major decisions in life.
The girls received some very fashionable shoes and clothing this year.
Grandma and Papa got them Nerf Rebelle guns. They had hours of enjoyment hunting down Cody and Kaden. Now I keep finding targets throughout the house.
Hannah gave the girls a very special gift with a very special package. If you cannot read it, the verse First Timothy 6:1 is written on the bag. "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share".
Kevin was scheduled to have chemo #3 the day after Christmas. We showed up in the morning, and they drew his blood first thing. Then we sat for nearly 3 hours. Of course, I started to get frustrated and impatient that they had not come and started his infusion. About that time, the nurse came and got us to see the doctor. As it turned out Kevin had the trifecta...white blood count low, neutrophil count low and platelets low. They decided to hold off for a week so that he does not get Neutropenic (susceptible to common illnesses). The chemo combination that they are giving him is Folfox. It contains Oxaliplatin. He is a big guy, so they give him a big dose of Oxaliplatin. Apparently that is the culprit. We will try again this Friday!
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