Christmas 2008

Wow! What a fun day with the family. We got together about 11am on Christmas Eve day (I arrived a little late as I'd gotten stuck at the end of mom and dad's road--ongoing saga all their years of living on Lenox Rd.----the city snowplowing!!! DON'T GET ME STARTED). Anyway, after a fabulous breakfast of made to order omlettes (orders taken by Kyle and made by Rick and Stacey) and fancy Belgium waffles made by Brian, it was time for the unwrapping of the gifts. The adults only do stocking gifts now but it was nice to get much needed socks as well as photo coasters and a note paper set for my desk at work. The kids still get gifts from grandpa and grandma as well as from aunts and uncles. I had purchased beach towels for all of the kids during one of Kohl's MASSIVE summer sales and these were a huge hit! Everyone has a different one, except Maddy and Emma who now have the same one but live in different houses. It was hilarious to see them open them up and then lay them on the floor as 'their space' to sit in for opening presents. It actually helped to contain the unwrappings. Other big gift hits were Kyle's walkie talkies, Maddy & Braden's fishing poles and tackle boxes, Emma's huge collection of chapter books, Celia's Polly Pocket, and Magic Reindeer food for all (this had to be put out right before going to bed and then get up to bed as quick as lightning or Santa may pass over your house---a call later in the night from Rick reported that Celia was almost too afraid to put it out because she didn't think she'd be able to get upstairs fast enough--she did. Santa came). The big highlight for me was FINALLY getting the game LIFE! I had this game on my Christmas list for more years than I can remember. I finally gave up putting it on my list and voila! when I least expected it, I got (a) LIFE! Thanks, Rick!!! (Brian took the picture of this event so I'll have to input it later).

One of the last gifts opened was my annual book gift, The Night Before Christmas. I've given a different version of this book to each family, starting with Kyle 10 years ago. This year's version was a coloring book. *Something to do on the next snow day?* Anyway, one of these days I need to write down all of the authors I've given because after 10 years of giving the same title, my memory isn't helping when it comes to buying another version--did I buy this one already or not? The kids now know that they get this book each year and seem to look forward to it--"Oh, it's to the 3 of us. It must be THE book from Auntie Ann".

After all of the gifts, there was some play time with the toys, grandpa reading to the kids, and then playing outside. The day had started with plain old rain, the precipitation changed to giant snowflakes, and then to small flakes before going to a freezing rain. At one point, the guys had to help the UPS driver get un-stuck from the end of the cul-du-sac. A giant snowball fight was played outside as well as a giant nest made in the front yard. Not sure who won the snowball fight as I was getting appetizers ready for the evening meal and chatting with mom, Stacey, and Jen while sipping some fabulous Cabernet Sauvingon and Port wines. Once everyone ate some 'healthier' food (lots of dutch pastries during the course of the afternoon), it was time to bundle up and head to church for some and home for others. Chezie and I were planning to stay overnight as the forecast was onimous and I was going to church with mom and dad on Christmas morning.

It was a crazy, fun-filled day filled with lots of memories and great pictures!!!