Merry Christmas!

We had a whirlwind of a Christmas! I feel like leading up to the biggest, jolliest holiday of the year, we were SUPER busy.

Not to mention that I made a last-minute trip to Las Vegas to see my dad. 

We've just been busy!

We didn't get our tree until literally the Tuesday before Christmas, which was Saturday.

And we "got" our tree from our front yard! All the places for trees were closed for the season! That's how late we were! 

A little full. A lot of sap.

We were actually heading out to find a tree at a tree place but since they were all closed for the season, we were kinda like....what do we do know?

Mila then said "what about that tree right there? Looks good to me!" 

And Steve and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and were like...ok, sounds good! 

Trimmed her to shape

Not the tall, skinny tree I wanted this year, but she'll do! 

Christmas, 2021

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Steve's parents and did lunch and presents on Friday. Since they are having stove/oven issues (it's a long story), we opted for pizza and wings. Totally fine by us! We absolutely do not need a fancy meal to enjoy family time. Plus, it can be stressful to prepare and meal and stuff anyway. 

The girls opened presents from grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles. 

Ava got a Lite Brite! 

This was a fun little find. I saw it on Amazon and it's a writing tablet. The little button there clears whatever you just wrote/drew and you can start over. It works with pressure and the little stylus is awesome! And it was relatively inexpensive! Under $20.

The annual tradition of handprints on the tree skirt. This is likely the last year since there's no more room left! 

We enjoyed most of the day over there and then headed home in the later afternoon. We played some games and enjoyed the night before Christmas! 

We taught the girls how to play Clue

The girls were determined to stay up to catch Santa in the act. 

We actually set an alarm for ourselves to wake up and finish wrapping presents and ensuring they got under the tree. We got up at 11:15 and became little elves putting all the gifts under the tree. Steve confirmed the girls were sleeping. 

Santa came! Mila's face! lol. 

What do you get the man who has everything? Who can buy his own shit? Yeah, it's tough. I found this little handheld cordless mini chainsaw online and it had really good reviews. Figured he'd never get one for himself, so I got him one! It was under $100 and it looks pretty useful. This way he doesn't have to bust out the big chainsaw for smaller tasks. 

My dad sent money instead of buying gifts (that's his MO since I was a kid) so I got the girls a bunch of clothes and these super cute boots! 

Mila got a new "Friends" sweatshirt and Steve got me the HUGE mirror for me! Now I can finally work out and make sure I'm doing things correctly. I love it! 

These girls LOVE popcorn. 

Sea-Doo Sea Scooter! Can't wait to test this out this summer! 

A very Merry Christmas

We let the girls play with their new stuff and we laid low for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. We were doing Christmas and dinner at my mom's house later that day. We were planning to head there around 3.

A beautiful prime rib! Our yearly tradition.

I made a mushroom gravy

Oh. My. God. 

I also made roasted potatoes (ranch dressing mix, Italian dressing mix, balsamic glaze, and parmesan cheese. 

 

My sister got the girls these awesome little cube puzzles that had money inside! Steve spent a good amount of time trying to open it. 

Got it out of the rotisserie at 125 degrees and let it sit. 

Perfection

The spread this year

After dinner, we rested a bit, packed up, and headed home. 

Like I said, it was a whirlwind! We had 3 Christmases over 2 days and spent time with family. 

I couldn't ask for anything more. 

Steve is home until Thursday (he legit only worked one day in like 16 days) and I'm on PTO through Monday. My work week will be very slow/light so I'm not expecting to do much during this week between Christmas and New Year's. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Till next year. 

Aftermath

Well, we've had a sad few weeks over here.

We always told the girls that small animals like our Skinny Pigs don't have a long lifespan. 

They just don't.

Maybe 5-6 years.

When we adopted Piggie Smalls and Notorious P.I.G., we were told they were between 1-2.

After Friendsgiving back in November, we went to say goodnight to the Pigs and we realized Notorious had passed. 

We weren't sure why. 

It was very sad.

Then our focus shifted to Piggie, because we know they are social animals and she'd miss not having a companion.

We just got busy and didn't get around to adopting another friend. Honestly, I didn't want to keep rotating through...and I really wanted another Skinny, not a regular pig. 

Anyway. the other day, I noticed Piggie was also not doing well. She appeared to have a rectal prolapse or something going on with her back end. 

This was at 8:30pm and I didn't think she'd make it through the night. 

She pulled through and I called the vet immediately the next morning. 

I called two places and they could not or would not take us. I was told to call the Emergency Vet/Urgent Care.

So I picked up the girls early from school and brought everyone to the vet. 

I knew it was bad, I just didn't know how bad. I told the girls we may have to say goodbye.

The vet took her back immediately and I sat in the room alone. Crying.

I left the girls in the car (locked and running, Karen) because I knew I'd be a mess. 

It was confirmed and I was told of our options. We could try surgery ($400-$500) with a rough recovery and low chance of a full recovery, or euthanize her. 

We chose to let her go. She was already suffering and I just couldn't put her through any more.

I got the girls and we got to spend time with her. 

We all sobbed. 

Ugh. 

Bye, sweet girl. Ugh she was such a good Piggie. 

I took Piggie's passing much harder than Notorious. She was not nearly as friendly as Piggie and didn't have as much personality as Piggie. Of course, I was sad, but I wasn't like devastated like I was when I had to let Piggie go. 

But now they can jump around and wheek all over the place with their elephant ears and fat, hippo bodies.

Miss you piggie poos.