The Traditional masking off the areas.
Oh look! A pez:)
Christmas Dinner
Table setting for Christmas dinner
Lexi Rae is going to be a big sister:)
Miss Kylie who is also going to be a big sister
Matching sweatshirts from Grandpa and Grandma
Uh oh! Caught!
NOTE: I wrote this blog a few days ago, but it took me awhile to get the pictures uploaded so I got discouraged and didn't finish in until tonight. I find it ironic that Silent Night is one of the most sung hymns of Christmas. For me, it is far from the opposite. Waking up at 5:30 to open at work doesn't help, although I shouldn't complain considering most people don't get to work at a Christ-centered bank. I am so grateful to be able to work with the co-workers I have. Most of them don't just profess christianity, but you can tell that they truly love God. I have nothing to complain about, although sometimes I think I do. This has been the craziest week for me. It kind of started out on Saturday with the big Endress Christmas at the Midwest Food Bank in Bloomington. It was a noon meal, so we were able to get some shopping done before and after. My really good friend Ashley Herrmann called to tell me she is engaged that night. I was a little shocked, because of the timing. Last weekend, me and another friend just had a surprise for her, because she graduated from Bradley University with her Masters in Accounting. I didn't think she would be getting engaged this soon. I am happy for her and I had her and Ryan Stoller matched up. I must say I take after my mom quite a bit:) On Sunday, Curt and Marybeth served church lunch so we helped them a little. On Monday, we had to clean, clean, clean, because we had Berchtold Christmas that night. It was a fun evening full of our traditional games, baked potato bar, and lots of laughing. It's always enjoyable being with the Berchtold's, because they are older and about a 1/3 of the amount of people as the Endress family. The Berchtold family added 3 new family members this year though. My cousin Tanya is engaged to Sean Puckett and Luke and Jill have 2 foster children, Remington(3) and Clayton(6 months??). On Tuesday, we got up early (by Dad playing his iPhone in our ears) to go to church. When we got home, we ate some lunch, and then opened presents. Grandpa Berchtold came over since he didn't have anything to do. If you must know, I got a pair of snow boots(that don't find), a iPod adapter for me car(that doesn't fit), and piece of clothing(that doesn't fit), an alarm clock, umbrella, and Bible cover. I realized this Christmas that as you get older, you start getting less interesting gifts. Probably more practical. We spent the rest of the day trying out new toys and playing our new games. Then at around 4:30 we started rushing to get our Christmas dinner ready. Each year, everyone has a dish they make. It was delicious! We had turkey, bacon wrapped chicken, parmesan-herb bread, cheddar mashed potatoes, salad, veggies, and cake roll for dessert. On Wednesday, I worked from 7:15-11:30 and then drove all the way up to Grandpa and Grandma Endress's for Endress Christmas. We had a delicious appetizer lunch followed by the men and boys reading the Christmas story and the kids saying their pieces from the Christmas Program and playing Christmas songs on the Piano. At around 2:15, my Mom's best friend for high school came over with her family. They ironically have 4 boys and no girls. We don't see them often, because they live in Omaha, NE, so it was a treat seeing them. I think the last time we saw them was probably 2-3 years ago and the 2 oldest twin boys were shorter than us. Now, they are taller than their parents. It was pretty funny getting a picture with them, because of the height difference:) After that we went down stairs to open presents. There were 3 different grabs this year. There was a little girls grab, teenage girls grab, and adult grab. This was Seth and I's 1st year in the adult grab. We had to buy a $10 gift from a 2nd hand store. Believe me, it was very difficult. I bought 3 candle stand things and gave some soap with it. My aunt Betsy got it. When she opened it, she started laughing and I thought "Oh, no. She thinks its dumb!" Anyways, when i bought it, I could only buy half the set, because of the price. She bought the other half of the set that I didn't buy! She was really excited though, because she really wanted to keep her own gift. I ended up getting a cute white wicker picnic basket. I will probably use it for photography now and later in my own house. We stayed until a little after 10:30. I worked from 7:15-4:15 today and then headed up to Grandpa and Grandma's again. The men were cleaning out Grandpa's shed as a gift to him. If any of you know my Grandpa, you know he is famous for his junky shed. It had so much stuff in it and it looks great now! We had pizza for supper and then Seth took my out to the shed to look for some goodies:) I found a really cute barrel and some old suitcases. Pretty much I had a corner of my room designated to stuff for my future house. A lot of it is wall hangings and stuff that doesn't match my room so I don't want to hang it up. I will have to take a picture of it sometime. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Adam and Brittany are expecting in July. This will be Endress baby #4 in 2013 making 28 grandkids of which I am the oldest and 42 altogether. We are getting to be very large and it's hard to fit us all in one house now! Anyways, that is a "summary" of my past weekend and week thus far. I hope you all enjoyed this Christmas and remembered to keep Christ as the focus of your holiday!
