The last time we wrote it was the day after Thanksgiving and Steve's dad had just arrived for a visit. He stayed with us through Monday and then drove back to Indiana.
We went to the Burt's Bees Christmas party on the 9th of December. To use the word "interesting" would not express how different the party actually was. They held it at a museum and then it was open for exploration. They had several "stations" set up throughout the museum with food. We went to the butterfly house and had some cocoa. Though, we were quite disappointed because the invitation said there would be a hot cocoa bar... and it was just a big thermos thingy filled with generic cocoa. We also went on the train ride... oh so fun! LOL At the museum we weren't sure how it all worked, so we assumed the food in the general area was all that they had to eat. We stuffed ourselves with meatballs and other "junk" and then decided to go explore and as we went around the corner and into a new area of the museum, we saw a carving station with beef and ham, a big salad bar and a potato bar. To say we were disappointed would be a huge understatement.
Cathy got to meet Tom (Steve's boss) and wasn't too impressed with him. He was rather arrogant... which is comical because he always uses the word arrogant to describe Steve. He was "Joe Cool" and had a bunch of punks hanging around and laughing at all his lame-ass jokes. Cathy told Steve that he reminded her of the "cool guy" that everyone wants to be friends with.
At the end of the party they had an awards presentation that we stayed for. The CEO said that there were multiple people nominated and he wasn't going to announce all their names, but he'd let everyone know who was nominated for each award via email. Steve didn't get an award (he didn't expect to), but to his surprise, he was nominated and received a certificate and a $25 gift card to Harris Teeter.
Cathy finished the 2007 year on the 21st. She had her holiday party on the 20th and came home with a ton of gift cards and special presents from her 4th graders. The parents took up a collection and bought her a $150 gift card to the spa... for her to go and relax after all her hard work teaching. She also got some cute handmade gifts. We went to dinner on the 20th with Lisa and Katie (Cathy's coworkers) and had pizza at Mama Mia.
Cathy's principal has announced that she's leaving Oak Grove. She'll be opening a new school in Wake County and February 1st will be her last day. She asked people to consider coming with her to the new school, but Cathy most definitely will not be joining her. Cathy was very happy to hear the news. She likes her principal and came to Oak Grove because of her, but has had some issues with her. It'll be a good change for someone new to come in February.
We flew to Indiana on the 21st. Our flight was very delayed and we didn't get into Indianapolis until after 11:30 pm. By the time we got back to Steve's dad's it was after 1am. We stayed with his dad and Sue Ann Saturday and then got up Sunday and drove up to Michigan to visit Mitch and Jess. Cathy had wanted to arrange a visit with Beckie (she was home from Arizona) but the timing didn't work out for us. We stayed Sunday with Mitch and Jess and then got up Monday and had breakfast at Bob Evan's before leaving to drive to Westland.
We arrived in Westland around 10:30 at Cathy's parent's house and then we went Christmas shopping. It's been a tradition for years that on Christmas Eve, Cathy goes shopping with her dad and brother to shop for her mom. It was really important to Cathy that she be able to continue this tradition this year, so we made sure to get there on time. We went to the mall and then headed all over hell and half of Georgia to find a Nintendo-DS for her mom. We finally found one at Costco and then while we were there, there was a guy buying a Wii. Cathy's dad really wants one. We headed back to the mall to have lunch with her mom at Olga's and then we finished our shopping. We dropped off Cathy's dad and then we headed to two different Costcos to see if we could find a Wii for her dad. Unfortunately, no one had any.
We checked into our hotel and then headed back over to her parent's house for dinner. We had pizza and watched The Polar Express. We left and went to the hotel for the night. Christmas morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed back to her parent's to open presents. Scott gave Cathy the Simpson's movie and then Cathy's dad gave Steve the Simpson's movie. It was funny. Steve also got a bottle of Maker's Mark and then the rest of our gifts were sent to NC so we got them when we returned home.
We went to Fr. Terry's for Christmas dinner. It was nice seeing his sister and then Mary Breeding and Francine (family friends) were there too. When we were done with dinner, Cathy's mom joined us to go see a movie at Emagine. We saw Juno (very cute). After the movie we dropped off Cathy's mom and then headed back to the hotel.
We packed up our stuff and headed back over to Cathy's parents on Wednesday and we went "day-after-Christmas-shopping." Another holiday tradition of the Ghrist family. They go shopping the day after Christmas and everyone can get one gift that they didn't get from Santa. Before we went shopping we met for lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ. It was sooooo good. We hadn't had Mongolian BBQ since May!!! Scott came with Gunnar (his friend Emily's son) and then we headed to Target. Steve got the new Jason Aldean CD and Cathy got a wireless transmitter thingy for her iPod and some pens.
We said our goodbyes and then drove back to Indiana. We met everyone at a place called Joe's for some pizza. It was the out of town get together for everyone coming in for the wedding from out of town. After eating pizza at Joe's, we drove back to the farm and stayed the night in the barn.
We got up Thursday and started running errands with Steve's dad. We went to the country club to pay for the reception, we went to the tuxedo place and picked up 11 tuxedos for the wedding party, and then we went to the hotel. We stayed at the hotel for a bit then drove to the rehearsal. It was easy-peasy and then they had the rehearsal dinner. Steve's dad gave him a John Deere pocket watch as the best man gift (it 
even makes a tractor sound). Then we went to the Silver Dollar Lounge for the bachelor party (yes, Cathy came too). We watched football and then had some beer and then drove back to the hotel (Steve was the DD). Friday morning we got up and met Steve's dad for breakfast in the restaurant in the hotel. He was getting more and more nervous and could barely eat. We went back to the room and 
had some time to read Harry Potter. We ended up going to Bob Evan's for lunch before we had to get ready to leave for the wedding. Cathy's parents arrived at the hotel around 2:15 and that's about the time that Steve and his dad left for the church. They were supposed to be at the church around 3:00 for pictures. Cathy and her parents arrived at the church around 3:30.
The wedding started around 4:30 and it was packed. There were people standing in the back because there weren't any additional seats. The wedding was perfect and Steve's dad and Sue Ann were blissfully happy. Steve did a fantastic job as the best man. :)
We drove together to the country club and Cathy's parents 
followed us over. The reception was beautiful and everything went perfectly. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Steve's best man speech was heart-felt and perfect, and caused quite a few tears. Steve's friend Greta and her husband were there and so were Mitch and Jess. They all sat with Cathy's mom and dad and then we eventually joined them.
We got back to the hotel Friday night and crashed from 
exhaustion. Saturday morning Steve's dad and Sue Ann had a breakfast for everyone staying at the hotel. We went down and had breakfast with them and then everyone went back to their rooms to get their things for check out.
We headed back to the farm for a luncheon and then a bunch of people came over to watch them open gifts. We weren't able to stay very long because we had a long drive to Indianapolis ahead of us.
Cathy's mom and dad drove us to the airport and then we caught our flight back to North Carolina. We had a very short flight (only an hour and fifteen minutes). Cathy called her friend Katie and she came and picked us up (saving us $60). We got home and dropped our stuff and then headed over to Matthew's house (the boy from Cathy's class that took Ned for us) and picked up Neddy. He was very excited to see us!!
We got home late last night and watched the Patriots cheat their way into the history books (lol). Then we crawled into our bed and slept like babies. There's nothing like your own bed and five cats having a kitty party to celebrate that you've returned home!!
So... that's about it. LOL. We decided to do absolutely nothing today and so far we've done exactly that. Tomorrow Cathy is going to go into work and get some lesson plans done for Wednesday. We don't have anything planned for New Year's eve... but we're more than okay with that.
We hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and have an even better New Years!!
:)
The Walkers
Posts
