On the Second Day of Christmas...

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Today is the second day of Christmas. Today I spent the day with two of my favorite people in the world: my parents. It's amazing to me how there is one point in your life when they switch from being parents to being friends. I will always look up to them, but I really enjoy the friendship that we have.

My mom's parents.

Christmas at my grandparents' houses was fun when I was a kid. In the morning, we had just a few minutes to open our presents at home before my uncle was calling to see where we were. We'd get dressed and enter the mayhem that was my mom's parents' house. Their house was always noisy. There were always kids running around. There was always a sport on TV and Grandpa was always yelling at whoever was playing said sport. That house was busy. Christmas morning was no exception. Grandma made brunch and we opened presents, played with our cousins, enjoyed time together, and then went our separate ways. For us in the Heyburn household, that meant we went to my Dad's parents' house (or whoever happened to be hosting that year - it tends to migrate from year to year whose house we go to).

My dad's family - Uncle John, Aunt Jane, Dad, Grandma and Pop

My dad's family is a bit more subdued than my mom's family is. They're more punny; more deliberate. There weren't many running and screeching children (come to think of it, I think I was the only one!), and there wasn't mayhem and present throwing (my uncle liked to play 'santa' and would throw presents at us yelling 'heads up!' as it was almost to our face). But it was thoroughly enjoyable. We had dinner, family time, one-on-one time with grandparents, fun with whatever cousins were around, and I'm sure that's the one night of the year that my mom didn't have to fight me to get to sleep after we got home. ;)

My brother, me, and my sister a couple years ago.

I absolutely love my family and am so happy that I have such wonderful people around me. I've got two great siblings and their multitude of offspring (7 kids between them - see why I am sticking with furry kids for now?). I have loads of cousins and cousins-once-removed and aunts and uncles that are so wonderful to be around. My favorite thing about November - February is the many opportunities that I get to spend time with my families. I'm truly blessed and when I start to get down and out, I remember that because not everyone is as lucky a ducky as me. :)