Merry Family Christmas

My brother and sister-in-law (to my delight) altered their Christmas break plans, and so everyone gathered together for Christmas at my parents' (paid off!) house. This meant--we were going to leave as early as possible to spend more time with them and the baby ;) By nine a.m., we were on the road--that's pretty good! Especially since we needed to feed like 400 animals and completely de-paper and de-trash anything accessible by the dog who did not accompany us on this one-day journey. (I'd packed the gifts and birthday cake in the van the night before; every little bit helps :)

On the way over we listened to the Adventures in Odyssey c.d.s Graysen gave Gabby for Christmas. They retold the story of Whit meeting his wife in college, and I was all but sobbing when we pulled up for Christmas :)

It didn't take long for Grandpa B to get things moving. When he learned there was no cider in the fridge, he and Buck went on a drinks run . . . he came back with THREE GALLONS of cider and enough egg nog to nourish a small country :) My kids hadn't tried egg nog, because I can't process the thought of drinking eggs--I don't know if these were raw or not, my brain can't go there. However, the girls agreed to try tiny little toasting glasses full, and I think Brennen got in on the nog-drinking as well. I stuck to my mug of yummy hot, fully-cooked cider ;) Let's see--with Grandpa's help they toasted the future husbands and wives of all the grandchildren and still unmarried children . . . and Carson Wentz (he's a Christian football fellow who got hurt this season). My girls followed the toasting with big glasses of water :)

Pretty soon, Maga invited the birthday kids to gather by the tree (it was real this year!) to open gifts. The little ones were enthusiastic; the older ones were surprised and also enthusiastic. Caelan got the start of a lace-making set she's been hoping for, and she's been trying to figure out the process of making her own lace since we arrived home (I keep interrupting her to get her bears finished :) CJ seemed to like his knit stocking hat and matching wolf scarf--he wore them both the remainder of the day!






The girls also helped each other knit the elephant scarf which was Lo's gift, and the puppy that was Little L's gift. Caelan knit the cutie octopus hat for baby M, but we underestimated how much he's grown in the past couple months, so it was a bit snug--cute little punkin'! Maga gave the girls cool new shoes and boots, and B got a giant buildable-t-rex-robot-walking-roaring contraption that he worked on for two hours the night we got home and from the time he got up til the time he went to bed the next day!! I'll have to get a pic of the finished product. And pics of G$'s gift--Maga and Grandpa B gave him some blow up sumo-like vests that have been used in the snow to head down the hill since the extensive process of inflating them reached its completion :) Oh, and cousin G gave G$ such a pretty stained-glass window effect picture on aluminum foil. He has it in his window--very sweet!

Also just in time for Christmas, my brother rebuilt four laptop computers for the kids--he'd given us two a couple years ago, but they are literally falling apart. Now (with a very modest investment on our part) the kids are all set for another couple of years! Uncle C also gave us a really nice guitar with a bunch of new-to-us music. Now everyone has an instrument again (we haven't used Grandpa's heavy electric much, other than at home :) And speaking of musical instruments, Gabby remembered that she wanted to ask Maga about the accordion she once played as a child. Maga found it and presented it to the next generation excited about learning the old polka classic. To our amazement, Gabby played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to a captive audience--first try!




The gigantic chocolate cake we transported from home was promptly shared by the two birthday kids (who were willing to come to the table when the candles were lit). We also included CJ in the happy song, as he played video games in a nearby alcove.





We had both a big lunch and a big dinner! Our family meals now include duck--two this time! And noodles and ham and salads and veggies and desserts and of course that gigantic chocolate cake :) I don't know if I have ever seen so many rolls made and consumed in one setting--two of the boys piled four rolls on their plates before any other food . . . one of these boys was dressed like a rocket ;)





My sister likes to remain incognito online, so I tried to give her different people's faces in the posts--I realize I didn't get them all disguised, but we can all applaud the effort :)

As usual, we left my parents' house with WAY more than when we arrived. However, 90% of the food that came home with us has been consumed, all the gifts have been washed and prepped for wear, the toys have been played with, the bobbins have been wound, and I have just used a whole lot of passive tense verbs in once sentence :)

Here's B's dino building . . .