Celebrating the Holidays

   We have finally returned from our nine day holiday visit to our families in Southern Indiana. We had a wonderful time and Adalyn enjoyed all of the extra attention she recieved from all of her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We also had the oppotunity to see a lot of extended family, which was wonderful! As always, we didn't get the chance to visit with everyone as much as we would have liked. We are always amazed when we plan to go home for a week or more and by the time we arrive in Indiana our entire weeek is already planned; this week was no different as it seemed like we were always on the go! Derek ended up having an extra vacation day that he needed to use by the end of the year, so he took off Christmas Eve at the last minute. On Christmas Eve morning we headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. While we were at breakfast, Santa's fufilled our request of an early visit and left Addy's present under the tree. We are so glad that he is so accomodating! Adalyn had a blast opening her presents and spent the majority of the day playing with her new toys. Since Derek ended up not working, he and I decided that we would head home that evening instead of early Christmas morning. On the way to Indiana we stopped at Derek's brother and sister-in-law's house to say hello. They just moved in, so it was good to see their new home, Adalyn's six month old cousin--Cameron, and Derek's mom. I hadn't told my parents that we were ocming early, so I called them at Terre Haute to tell them we would be home in a few hours. They didn't quite believe me at first but were very excited once they did believe me. When we got home that evening we exchanged gifts and stayed up late.

Since this blog is already getting quite lengthy, I'll make a list of the rest of the highlights of our week:

• We spent Christmas Day with my family and ate a wonderful dinner. Adalyn was so worn out from her fabulous few days of Christmas that she fell asleep with her fork and spoon in hand!


Four Generations


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  Adalyn picked out a special gift for her Uncle Brian all by herself--a Cookie Monster T Shirt!
  
  
  

• Mom and Dad hosted the Schum Christmas Party on Sunday (12/27). I was great to see everyone and watch all of the little ones play together.
• On Monday and Tuesday Derek and I went on a short shopping get-away to Louisville while Adalyn stayed with her Grandma and Grandpa Schum. They took Addy to Chuckie Cheese, while we actually went to see a movie. That's something we haven't done in quite some time!
• On Wednesday we picked up Adalyn's big girl furniture in Evansville and visited Derek's mom. We went to the Children's Museum of Evansville, which was a lot of fun! Addy loved the rice table (and so did Grandma)!

• On Thursday Derek, my dad, Brian, and I headed to Bloomington, Indiana to see the IU vs. Michigan game. The Hoosiers came away victorious and it was an exciting game to watch. Adalyn stayed home with Grandma Schum and her Aunt Ashley.
• Thursday evening we rang in the New Year hanging our at my parents' house and then headed to Derek's mom's house on Friday. On Friday we went out to eat at Red Robin with Derek's mom and brother's family.
• On Saturday Derek's mom had a Christmas party at her house. It was great to see his entire family and Adalyn really enjoyed playing with Jamie's boys!

Uncle Derek and Cameron

We headed home on Saturday afternoon and arrived at our house around 9:00 that evening. We were greeted with 2-3 inches of snow that fell in central Illinois earlier in the week. Since Adalyn had been cooped up in the car for five hours, she was ready to get out and play with her toys. She had been away from some of her toys from Santa for over a week, so it was a lot of fun watching her get excited about them all over again.

With the arrival of 2010 we are happy to welcome the new year but also feel very blessed for 2009. We are very excited about what 2010 will bring as we look forward to adding a new member of our family and all the changes that come it. We would like to wish everyone a wonderful and happy new year and hope that your 2010 is filled with many blessings!