It's been a whirlwind couple of days, and it's not letting up just yet! Yesterday I took Ashley to work, as mall employees are not allowed to park at the mall during the couple of days before or after Christmas. A few hours later I drove over to her cousin Robin's house for the Coleman Christmas party. It was very fun, and I got to see a lot of Ashley's family that I'd not seen in a while. The kids were especially cute, Skyler, Jaden, Derek, Chloe and Mackenzie. And the food Robin served was delicious! Uncle Greg is looking much better after a bout of appendicitis that was complicated and left him in the hospital for two weeks. Jenny and Kim were up from New Mexico, so that was a pleasant surprise. Ashley called a few hours into the party to be picked up, and I raced out the door. Of course, the roads are still awful. In the process of trying to get on the road, I almost rocked Ashley's minivan into a passing pickup, and then very nearly crunched into Aunt Kim's Jeep that was parked across the street. By pure chance, the entire family was watching out the window. So by the time I got back to the party with Ashley, I had earned a new family nickname: "Crash." I didn't actually hit anything, but everyone found it hilarious that I had come so close. On the ride back to the party I gave Ashley her present early, so she could show it off to the few people that were left. I got her a pair of diamond solitaire earrings, 1/4 carat total in white gold screw-on mounts, from Zales. She was thrilled.
This morning I went to mass with Ashley's family, and spent the morning opening packages at their house. After a quick breakfast, we drove up to Greeley to visit the Campbells, Ashley's father's side of the family. Her aunt Sharron had cooked a wonderful Christmas dinner for everyone, and I got a chance to catch up with everyone on that side. Ashley's Grandpa Bob and Grandma Betty seem very pleased that I'm still dating Ashley. We stepped out rather quickly after the gift-giving, and went to visit my Grandma Doris and Aunt Nancy. We stayed there for a bit, and I tried to help Nancy with her computer, but even after getting her camera working with her computer, I'm afraid I just caused more questions. We raced back to Ashley's to visit with Jenny and Kim while they were still in town, and I came back home.
So far this Christmas, I've made out pretty well. The prevailing themes for my gifts were food, SmartWool socks, and Norman Rockwell artwork. Ashley's family, for lack of knowing me, gave food and cash, which makes me happy. Ashley had all sorts of good ideas, and got me three pairs of SmartWool socks (which are really warm and yummy to wear), a Norman Rockwell calendar, a pair of leather dress gloves to match my jacket, and a USA Zippo lighter with an engraved monogram. Yay! And Kristen got me a Norman Rockwell coffee table book with some of my favorite works of his, like Willie Gillis at the USO, The Marriage License, and The Runaway. This has really been a great Christmas! I hope all of you had a great one as well!
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