Schartz Christmas

We started our Christmas celebration by attending the 5:00 p.m. Mass. I don't have any pictures of that as I didn't think Father Ted would appreciate flash photography during the Mass. I will say the Cathedral was full which is always nice to see. After Mass we headed back to Joe's parents to start the evening with chili, entertainment, gift opening and more entertainment. After dinner the men were nominated to do the dishes. Some men were working harder than others, ha. Joe was clearly parched and needed to stop for a beverage break. As always, before opening gifts, the family sang silent night accompanied by Joe's sister, Jeri, on the guitar as the grandchildren carried in candles to line up around the nativity scene and Keylee (not pictured), since she is the youngest grandchild, carried in baby Jesus to place in the manger.

Our nephew, Preston, asked for Jeri's guitar for a special impromptu song. As you can see from the cheers behind Preston, everyone enjoyed his song.

Grammy and the Grands had yet another performance-wooing the crowd. Joe's Mom gathered the grandchildren and did a special rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Keylee, featured here with her cousin Tanner, was Rudolph.

The performance brought the crowd to their feet. (oh ya, we were already standing but it was still great)

One highlight that I failed to get pictures of was Joe's sister Toni and her presentation of "Toni's Favorite Things." I think she was dressed in about seven layers of clothing as she had a different shirt to represent each of her favorite things. Another highlight was Joe's Dad wearing the reindeer antlers during the gift exchange (he wore the antlers the grandchildren wore as pictured above). I did get pictures of it but elected not to post them in fear he might not find it as funny today as he did on Christmas Eve. Nonetheless, he was in the Christmas spirit and helped make the evening memorable and fun everyone. Finally, the highlight that must not go unmentioned was that all six children were home with their spouses and children. However, John and Jeri's daughter, Jenilee, is a nurse and had to work in the ER and could not travel to Dodge and John and Jeri's son, Ryan, works on the Ron Paul campaign and he is assigned to Maryland and could not make the trip home. Jenilee and Ryan were missed.

We celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving with my family and I will post those photographs at a later date.

Christmas Already??

Christmas came early, as it always does, at our house. We are headed back to Dodge City for a few days to spend time with family so Santa decided to stop by before we left. This Christmas seasons seems to be exceptionally busy. I still cannot believe it is really Christmas. Where did time go? I have been trying to keep up but I am certain I did not get everything done that needed to be done at home and at work. Oh well, it is time to enjoy the time with family and to reflect on the true reason for the season. This was the year for electronics. Kira-iPad, Keenan-iPod Touch and Keylee-LeapPad (with a new American Girl Doll). The LeapPad was a last minute purchase from a friend who had purchased several and had one to get rid of. It was a huge hit with Keylee and she was super surprised.

The kids have all been asking for the Reebok ZigZag shoes. I have not wanted to buy them in the past because the shoes seem so heavy. Personally, I hate heavy shoes. Nonetheless, I broke down and we gave them new kicks for Christmas.

On Sunday we attended a Santa Brunch. The kids came face-to-face with the "big man" and were able to make their last pitch for why they deserve the items on their list.

We attended a holiday dinner at a friend's home who had gingerbread houses for the kids to make. At first, I thought she was crazy to take that on with all the kids but it actually worked out well and the kids loved the group project.

This was Keenan's finished house. He was pretty proud of it.

Running the Strip at Night

At the end of December Joe and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage. Several months back Joe asked me what I wanted for our anniversary. I told him what I really wanted was for him to run with me in Las Vegas for the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon. Joe was reluctant to agree but I was quick to sign him up. The marathon and 1/2 marathon started at night and Las Vegas Boulevard (the strip) was closed to all traffic. Apparently, the casinos complained about losing millions of dollars and the newspapers reported that this will be the last year for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and 1/2 Marathon to be at night. I hope the reports are not true.

Joe and I had hoped for some warmer weather. When we arrived in Las Vegas on Dec. 3rd it was mid 30's and 15 mph winds. The run was on Dec. 4th. The winds did manage go down some but it was much colder and windier than we had anticipated. Joe managed to train for the 1/2 marathon during football season which was quite an accomplishment. He was pleased with his time considering he averaged two running days per week leading up to the run. I was pleased with my time too. I was a little nervous about the night run as I always run early in the morning. We had a great time but, as always, we were glad to get home to the kiddos.