My Christmas recap

Just a little recap of the last few days:

• Mike got over his stomach virus, so our traveling was delayed by a day. We exchanged gifts before leaving. I found this awesome charcoal corduroy sports jacket that I have been looking for since last Christmas. I finally found it in his size, quite unexpectedly! I think he was very surprised by it! Mike gave me a subscription to Flickr -- I will be uploading photos like crazy over the next several day!
• Our first stop was Ohio to visit Mike's parents. We went to Bob Evans with Mike's parents, his sister, his brother and his brother's girlfriend. Then we went back to exchange gifts. Mike did his Christmas shopping while he was sick -- wow! My in-laws gave me some cupcake stuff (mini pan and the Cupcakes by the Cake Doctor book), and a big stack of CDs so I can back up all my photos! Mike asked for lots of old family photos scanned onto a jump drive -- it was really cool to look at those photos, and see the resemblances between family members!
• Oh yeah, my brother-in-law gave me some awesome Winter Candy Apple lotion and soap! He's the best brother-in-law ever (and he reads my blog occasionally)! Thanks, Matt!
• The next day we backtracked to Kentucky to visit Mike's extended family. Three get-togethers in two days -- whew! This was the first time we left Lola at home by herself -- just overnight, but eek -- it was scary to think of what she could do to the apartment! Turns out, she did a very good job of holding down the fort!
• We went to a less-than-inspiring Christmas Mass (Mike was raised Catholic). Somehow, we expected the Christmas message to be about...oh, I don't know...Christ's birth. Kind of disappointing...
• On Christmas day, we got up very, very early to drive to my parents' house. I think I did pretty well with my family's gifts -- I gave my mom some quiling supplies (she's been wanting to try it for a few years), a cute jacket for my sister, some books that my brother had been wanting, but couldn't find, and one of those jump-starters for my dad's truck. My parents gave me a gift card to my favorite clothing store. And Welcome Back, Kotter season 1. Oh, and this huge 300 page assortment of K & Co. papers -- wowzers!
• This was the first Christmas that Mike and I planned ahead for our Christmas spending. We started a gift fund envelope, and have been adding to it monthly throughout the year. It feels so good to know that we can look at our bank statement without fear!
• I made some awesome pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing! Yum!
• We stuck around my parents' house a few day's for my dad's birthday. Mike roasted a duck for dinner...it was awesome! He had never roased a whole duck before, so he was a little worried about how it would turn out. But my parents were totally impressed.
• Today, my mom and I went to Black Barn Produce. It's king of like an old general store, and yes, it's in a black barn. Really neat stuff there. And they sell all sorts of cane sugar sodas that are pretty hard to find elsewhere.
• I didn't take very many photos this year. Kicking myself a little, but hey, I got to live in the moment! :)
• Has anyone ever seen the resin ducks that can be dressed up in seasonal attire? My mom has one, and wouldn't you know it -- some of the clothing is Lola-sized! Doesn't she look adorable in her Christmas scarf? :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! If you leave a comment, I'd love to know what you thought was the best part! :)