Bittersweet Holidays

Hi everyone!
.
Hope your Christmas was a happy and healthy one. We were fortunate enough to get a chance to spend Christmas with my husband's family.

Lots of fabulous presents were given all around. The girls both got a DSi from my in-laws and were quite excited.
.

.
Each of the girls decided to give one another DS games which were a hit as you can see from the thank you hug below.
.

.
When we were at the Toy and Game Show in Chicago, L fell in love with the candy shaped pillows. I managed to surprise her with Jolly Ranger pillow. Like all the hair bows? She is such a goofball. :)
.

.
Grown up presents for my 6th grader (a duffle bag in her favorite colors for sleep overs).
.

.
The girls gave me the absolute best gift this year. One our favorite books is called the Patchwork Quilt. In the book the grandmother takes pieces of fabric from the family's favorite clothes to create a quilt that represents each of the family members. With the help of their sweet dad, the girls cut up some of their old soccer, swim and favorite t-shirts and took it to a local seamstress. She then put it all together and backed it with fleece. It is the sweetest, most comfy present ever. I didn't get a picture of the quilt yet but I do have a picture of opening the t-shirt pillow that went with the quilt.
.

.
Our ready-to-be babysitter. She does such an amazing joy with her little cousins and thoroughly enjoys playing with them, as well as, taking care of them.
.

.
While we were visiting we went to see a hockey game. They have the most amazing face painter there and she did the girls' faces. I was able to snap a picture when we got home.
.

.
As I eluded to in my post title and a previous post, the holidays have been a little bittersweet for us. We found out a couple of weeks ago that they will be closing DH's office here in Bloomington. If you have read my blog for very long you have probably read where I talked about how amazing our neighborhood is and how much we absolutely love living here. It was quite a shock and I will be the first to admit that I did not take it as well as I should have. My heart breaks for the girls and the good friends we are going to leave behind. They both have the most amazing teachers this year as well. I know that finding another neighborhood like this is going to be near impossible. But I am also trying to look at the bright side of things. They are offering DH the same position in another city. We have been able to find a couple of good school districts there and several homes that look very promising. We have our health, our family and friends that we will be leaving but definitely not forgetting.
.
Please keep us in your prayers for an easy transition, though. I am not looking forward to getting another house ready to put on the market so soon after the last move. There is so much to do and I am definitely feeling overwhelmed. I will most likely be a little light on the blog posts in the next month but I will try to post now and then to keep everyone up to date and post projects as I can.
.
Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy New Year.