Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve

We celebrated with all the kids and grandkids on Wednesday. I played for the 4:00 service, hurried home and got dinner on the table by 6:00, and then, PRESENTS! It was very hard for the little ones to wait, but they did well.

Corey, as usual, played Santa, with a little help from his friends. We always go in order from youngest to oldest, which means I'm last.

Oh well :-(

Phebe loved opening and she also had fun helping Corey read the words on the gift tags - good job!

Maddox really understood presents this year, and had a blast ripping into everything. He was not, however, impressed with gifts of clothes.

It was fun helping others open, too!

Maddox's comment: "Ooooooh - that's a BIG one, Jenna!"

"It's a mirror - I see me!"

Maddox and Phebe got a new sled to keep at our house. They wanted to try it out right away, but it was a bit too dark, and very cold, so they practiced inside sledding instead.

After presents, we had our traditional dessert - java chunk ice cream pie! Then Heidi headed off to work the night shift at the hospital and I got ready for the 10:30 service at church. Jenna, Andy, and Phebe joined me, while Chuck and Kyle relaxed and started to clean up the mess. I finished when I got home, and finally went to bed at about 1:00, almost ready for the next day.

Christmas Day

On Thursday, my whole family (minus Tom, Kim, and kids - we missed you) joined us for appetizers, presents again for the kids, and a ham dinner.

Chuck decided Maddox needed to try some pickled herring (see it on the tooth pick?). He was a really good sport about it, and popped it into his mouth.

Hmmmmm.....he thought about it for about a minute, and then out it came.

Must be an acquired taste.

There it is, on top of his folded hands. "That was yucky, Grandpa!"

My nephew's son, Matthew, joined the kids. He and Maddox are about 3 weeks apart in age, and they're like little bookends. Last year, they ignored each other, but this year they had lots of fun playing. Aren't they the cutest?

It's hard to get them all to look the same direction at the same time when there are multiple cameras snapping pictures and multiple photogrtaphers telling them to say "cheese."

We just did presents for the kids this year, which worked great. We "oldies" don't need more stuff, anyways!

Phebe got a guessing game, and Jenna and Joyce had as much fun playing it as she did. Phebe was great at giving clues.

Let's see - who am I?

Joyce is the best toy. She and Phebe played "rides" for awhile, until Joyce got too tired!

Of course, I had to take the yearly picture of Jenna and Andy under the Christmas tree. Jenna hasn't been home on Christmas Day for the last few years, so she really enjoyed being with the whole family.

After Ted and Pat left for the trek to Illinois to visit Tom and Kim, and Corey took Maddox home for a nap, Phebe finally got to go out and play in the snow and try out the new sled. I opened my kitchen window to take thses pictures on zoom, so they're a bit fuzzy.

They even built a snow fort back by the trees.

What a beautiful day - perfect weather, great food, and best of all, time shared with family!

After everyone left, I cleaned up most of the mess (again) and finally got a chance to relax. Zzzzzzz! Thanks everyone!