Have a holly jolly christmas

Our Christmas was wonderful as always. We went over to my mom's on Christmas eve for her 2nd annual Christmas Eve get together and it was lovely, good food and we got to hang out a little bit with my "aunt" Julie & her awesome husband John whom we hadn't seen since our wedding, my dad was there, and we got to meet some of my moms friends that she has talked about forever but we had yet to meet.
On Christmas morning Cheyenne and I got up and opened our gifts to one another and gifts from Chey's mom & sister who couldn't make it up from Reno. I got him a remote control helicopter, a book for dads (it has nursery rhymes, stories, games, and the like that dads should know and it's pretty cute), and a device to listen to and record the baby's heartbeat. He got me an amazing full body prenatal massage from a fantastic local spa which is worth it's weight in gold these days with my 3rd trimester backaches and he got me the footies duvet shoes from Restoration Hardware that i have been wanting all winter long and plan to take to the hospital with me when I'm walking the halls during labor.
Christmas afternoon and evening we had 8 of our friends and family members over for dinner and gifts (mom, dad, Dave, Tom, Meegan, Mike, Holly, & Jonathan...aka the usual suspects). I made a ham, potatoes au gratin, maple roasted butternut squash, balsamic & pancetta Brussels spouts, cider-cranberry relish, and rolls with a gingerbread buche de noel cake for dessert (for those not in the know it's the yule log looking cake in the pictures and a french Christmas tradition which we have stolen the last 3 or 4 Christmases). Everyone ate far too much and enjoyed wine, Spanish coffee, and meegan's homemade whiskey apple cider (i had sparkling pear cider sans alcohol).
After dinner we all opened gifts and had a great time...the best was the crown of thorns that Meegan made for Holly (our resident 1/2 Jew and total good sport).
It was a cozy and lovely holiday but i tell you, I'm glad to be done hosting for the season....i need the rest!
Cheyenne's birthday was the next day (yes yes, give him the pity he craves) and it was just what he wanted. We got up and went out to breakfast at the Cadillac Cafe and had a delicious meal. The day was cold and crisp but clear and sunny so in the afternoon he and Dave went out for an 18 hole round of Frisbee golf while i stayed home and took a nap with the dog. I've been told that it was cold as can be in the shade but a blast nonetheless. I got Cheyenne a robotic arm that he had to put together and it moves and grabs things and the like (no year passes without him getting at least one science nerd toy from me that he goes ape for) he spent all of Sunday putting it together by the way (no surprise, he's trying to get it to goose me). That night we went out with our friends (Holly, John C., Tom, Meegan, Amanda, Dave B., and Dave P.)to our favorite hole in the wall bar (since there is no smoking in any bar now and the owners put in new carpet and repainted and the like it was safe for preggo here to go in) we had a birthday cheesecake and lots of fun. All said he had a great day...which is basically my goal most of the year so as to try and make up for the fact that he was born the day after Christmas and has been gypped by that more than once.
New Years is the last holiday of 2009 and I'm looking forward to it, we are going out to dinner at Jake's downtown on New Years Eve and then coming home for Sparkling Cider (in my case) and champagne (in Cheyenne's case) and ringing in the new year for the last time as a twosome. It's been a mostly good year with a few hiccups at the end (though they seem to be working themselves out and getting better thank goodness) but I'm ready to start 2010 with a fresh start and our first baby (not counting the dog of course....we all know Josie considers herself the firstborn).