FamilyMullen BLOG

Well hello, and welcome to the first real post in the FamilyMullen BLOG. The topic, of course, is Christmas 2006. As usual here in the Mullen family, it was multi-day event. It started with a visit from Grandpa…

(click the links in the text to see pictures of the kids!)

Grandpa’s Visit
Grandpa (Jennifer’s father) always comes down a few days before Christmas. It’s kind of a warm up for the big day. Each of the kids got dress-up stuff. Hannah got a Tinkerbell play set and a Tinkerbell outfit, and Jackson got a car set, a toy helicopter, and a dinosaur outfit. Soon after those presents were opened, the kids apparently forgot who was supposed to be wearing each dress-up outfit!

On Christmas Eve, we all packed up and went to Uncle Adam’s and Uncle Andy’s house…

Uncle Adam’s and Uncle Andy’s House
Sadly, the day didn’t start or end well at all. Jackson started feeling ill earlier in the day. He was pretty lethargic and had a fever. However, we got his temperature down, so we took two cars (in case he and I needed to leave early) and headed over to the see the Uncles. The kids were as patient as they could be, waiting to open their presents. Despite the excitement. it became obvious Jackson was starting to feel worse. He soldiered on, and was happy to receive a GeoTrax setup from Gagi and new cars for the setup from Adam and Andy. Hannah, meanwhile, received a Baby Alive doll from Gagi, which immediately became her favorite toy. As time went on, Jackson started getting worse and worse. Since our doctor’s office wasn’t open, I took him to the emergency room. When we got there, he had a 104 degree fever. Fortunately, he’s resilient little guy and was feeling MUCH better by Christmas morning…

Christmas Morning
After Mommy and I got home, we put the kids to bed with “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. We then played Santa for a bit, setting out the presents until the scene was set. The next morning, we got to watch the wonderful moment of discovery. Is there anything more exciting for a kid than Christmas morning? First, the kids set to work playing with their Santa presents and opening their stockings. The car carrier that Santa left for Jackson immediately gained status as a favorite toy. Once the presents from Mommy and I were opened, Hannah discovered what’s become one of her favorites, a handheld educational video game system called “Leapster“. The kids spent the rest of the day discovering cool things about their new toys. Hannah migrated back to Baby Alive, which she named Melissa. Jackson even found that he liked to help take care of the baby! The boy, meanwhile, finally got to spread out his entire GeoTrax set and play conductor.

Believe it or not, the gift giving in the Mullen family wasn’t finished. A couple of days after Christmas, my brother brought his wife three girls for a visit…

Uncle John’s Visit
Hannah Banana and Jackeroo were excited all day to see their cousins. After a trip that took about twice as long as it should have due to traffic, they arrived. With them came still more princess dressup attire for Hannah. The outfits she received from various gift-givers were such as hit, she shared them with her little brother and her youngest cousin. Jackson received more cars … and was very excited! Traditionally during this visit, we take a Mullen Family Picture. This year we decided to limit it to only the kids. They’re a great looking bunch!

We had one more group of visitors this holiday season. Mommy’s Uncle Joel and Cousin Amy came to visit. They’re always favorites of the kids. They not only bring presents at holiday time, but the kids have a great time playing with them. Editor’s note: Pictures of their visit are coming!

My apologies if this seems like a horrifically long post. It’s my first, and it was such a good holiday season. In the future, most posts will be a paragraph or two, and will be quicker reads. Happy 2007!

-Daddy