Holiday Happenings 2015

I originally planned this lengthy post about everything we did over the holidays, with lots of pictures and explanations. Then I realized it would take you, my dear readers, about 20 minutes to get through it. Who wants to do that?? So here are our top 10 moments from our two week holiday break, and then I made a pretty awesome video with pictures. Total time to read and watch video? Less than five minutes. Go!

 Top 10 from Winter Break:
1. My DH had knee surgery, but recovered quicker than anticipated. Yay! 
2. My in-laws came to help with the kids while DH had surgery, and we also had a few nice days of visiting, game playing and present opening!
3. My parents also came for a nice three-day visit - more fun activities, lots of eating, and saw the GardenFest of Light.
4. Since we didn't travel at all for the holidays (a first in our 12-year marriage), we also got to see lots of friends - holiday parties, an impromptu Christmas Eve pot-luck, movie and dinner dates, game nights, and New Years Eve just down the street in our neighborhood!
5. Ainsley had a to-do list of thing she wanted to do over break, and we did almost all of them - including going to Monkey Joes (a bounce house place), baking cookies, play dates with friends, and lots of forced playtime with her brother. 
6. The kids have gotten so good at entertaining themselves in the morning that we both got to sleep in almost every day!
7. I bought and installed under-cabinet lighting all by myself. I'm awesome with a drill. 
8. I bought and wired a whole-house audio system all by myself. I rock. 
9. As you can probably tell, I got a lot done on my to-do list, which makes me very happy and gives me a sense of accomplishment. 
10. The best part? Having my husband home for almost a full month (after traveling for the past 5 months). We were so happy and lucky to get to see so many friends and family over the holidays - even with his crutches and gimpy knee. 

 Now here's the really exciting part - a superbly edited video that I made. The pictures are all taken with my new DSLR camera that I got for an [early] Christmas gift. Enjoy and Happy New Year! 
[The YouTube version of this below has lower quality.If you want to get a better view, go directly to the video at https://animoto.com/play/juhULOeH0y73X8QC4jGjtg]

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