Holiday in Review 6

All the presents have been unwrapped, the lights are coming down, 2011 is gone and 2012 is here... that means it's time for our annual Holiday in Review.  Once again, in no particular order, the ten most noteworthy happenings of the 2011 holiday season.

10. Brashggie!  We were super excited when Brad, Ashley, and Maggie informed us that they were going to be visiting North Carolina for Christmas.  Brad had some vacation days that were set to expire at the end of the year and they couldn't think of a better way to spend them than to come visit us.  They got here on the 22nd and stayed through the 29th.  While they were here, we played lots of games, introduced them to Cookout and Milner's, lounged around, and basically had a great time.  Maggie took to "Bebee Chah-lee" instantly and seemed pretty enamored by him.  Going from two people in the house for Christmas last year to six this year made quite a difference.  We loved it and have a standing invitation for any family members who want to join us next year.

9. Worst Christmas on Call.  It's a good thing that Cami and Charlie had some extra visitors around for Christmas... they might otherwise have been pretty lonely.  Having accrued a little seniority in the department, I didn't have to work Christmas morning this year.  But I did have to work Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.  And man, did I have to work.  In addition to the dozen or so ENT patients we have in the hospital, I was fortunate enough to be consulted on a CSF leak, an aphthous ulcer, two peritonsillar abscesses, Ludwig's angina, dysphagia, invasive fungal sinusitis, a dog-bite to the face, tracheal stenosis, suppurative parotitis, two broken mandibles, two midface fractures, and a partridge in a pair tree.  I was barely home at all Christmas Eve.  What kills me though, was that a third of the patient's I saw in the ED Monday morning admitted to me that their "emergencies" started a day or two ago, but they didn't want to come into the hospital on Christmas so they decided to wait it out.  Thanks, guys.

8. Snotsucker to the Rescue.  Annoyed at how useless the hospital nasal aspirators are, and frustrated with the snot rattling around in Charlie's nose when everybody is trying to sleep, we decided to take matters into our own hands.  On Leighanne's recommendation, we ended up buying a Frida Snotsucker on Amazon.  This little piece of plastic and tubing is quite possibly Sweden's greatest contribution to the human race.  Once you get past the initial "Ew" of sucking snot out of your kid's nose with a glorified straw, you realize how effective the device is.  Cami swears it might be the only gift she ever gives at a baby shower again.

7. Nerf Guns. A year or two ago, I lamented that one of the downsides of growing up is that there isn't anything to play with Christmas morning.  Helping me connect with my inner child, Cami bought Brad and me a couple of Nerf guns.  These guns have come a long way since the ones that were sold when I was a kid.  Everybody had a good time shooting and being shot with these things, even Maggie.  We even set up a number of targets in the living room and had a friendly shooting competition (Tim 17 - Brad 16).  Maggie also enjoyed biting the darts and rendering them utterly useless.  

6. Tanglewood Festival of Lights . Every year Tanglewood Park puts on a big lights show for Christmas.  We've heard people talk about it quite a bit and have been interested in going since we got here.  We've also seen the huge line of cars outside the park and have been a little less than excited about waiting two hours in a car to see Christmas lights.  Fortunately for us, the lines weren't nearly as long after Christmas.  We made a trip to Tanglewood our New Year's Eve activity and were pretty impressed.  Charlie slept through most of the drive.  He probably wouldn't have appreciated it much anyway.  Nearly one million light bulbs on display (we counted each one) may bring us back again next year.

5. One Large Bowl of Football.  Charlie enjoyed the first of many football games with his dad as BYU beat Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl on a last second touchdown pass.  From the quarterbacking controversy, to the Big XII/Big East conference invitation drama, to the thrilling USU win and the humiliating to Utah... this has been a long season for BYU fans.  However, in contrast to year's past, I did not have to "watch" a single game by streaming KSL's internet radio feed.  The ability to catch every single BYU game on either ESPN or BYUtv has made me a huge fan of BYU's football independence.  Even though the schedule was a little lackluster, I think there are some good things in the works setting us up nicely for the future.  With the perpetual optimism of a sports' fan: We'll get 'em next year.

4. Christmas Jam Sesh.  For the last several years, Cami and I have made a tradition of a little Christmas jam session.  I dust off the ol' guitar while she retunes the cello and together we "rock out" to our favorite Christmas carols.  We are thinking about recording our rendition of "We wish you a merry Christmas!" and distributing it.  Yeah, it's that good.  Maybe next year we can even get Charlie in on the action.  I bet by then he'll be able to play a mean rattle.  Stay tuned...

3. Holy Moley!  Regular readers of the blog may remember me recounting my frustration with Cami's refusal to let me remove a skin tag on her hip.  In fairness to Cami, she eventually acquiesced and let me remove the blemish (which, she now admits, was not a big deal after all).  A few months ago, she was describing the process to Ashley over the phone and Ashley suggested that she'd love to have a mole on the bottom of her chin removed.  When Ashley & Co. got here, she reminded me that she wanted that mole removed.  I gathered some supplies from the hospital and had Ashley de-moled in 10 minutes.  Ashley was a little nervous about the shot, but Cami kept telling her it was no big deal and that she wouldn't even notice it.  After we finished, I invited Cami to let me get that mole on her back since we already had all the stuff out.  She politely declined.

2. Happy New Year 2012.  Cami, Charlie, and I welcomed in the New Year on the couch.  We had just finished watching a movie and tuned in to watch the ball drop on Times Square.  What a difference a year makes.  2010 had been a pretty rough year for the both us.  In light of a number of challenges, trials, and disappointments, we were not sad to see the year end and were hopeful that the next year would be better.  Well, 2011 could not have been much better than it was.  We are so grateful for the blessings that we've received this past year and are excited to discover just what adventures 2012 will bring... unless that whole Mayan calendar apocalypse thing is real.

1. Even More Rock Solid Than Ever. With the addition of Charlie to our family, we are still 100% Rock Solid with no end in sight.