Back to Christmas

Saturday night, December 23rd, we had our get together with my dad's side of the family at my grandma's house. Those of you who have been following my blog know what a HUGE family we have on my dad's side. We fill three (large) rooms in my grandma's house with more people outside. It is always nice to spend time with everybody, and it is especially fun for me to watch the children interact. Distance, work schedules, immediate family activities etc. often make it so that this is the only time of year we see some of them. It is fun to watch Drew and Mikayla play so well with their cousins. It makes me wish we saw everyone more often! We enjoy dinner together, and then watch as the children open gifts. It has been a long time since the adults exchanged gifts with each other - this is a tradition saved for the children and Grandma! I do remember as a young girl a few Christmases where the adults participated in the Chinese gift exchange where everyone brought a gift (ladies bring a "lady gift" and men bring a "man gift". The ladies start by drawing numbers to see who goes first, second, third, etc. All the gifts are laid out wrapped and the person with number one would choose whichever gift they wanted to unwrap. Then the person with number 2 could either take the gift away from number 1 if they liked it (making number 1 choose again), or they could choose another gift to unwrap. This continues until the person with the last number chooses, either one of the gifts already unwrapped or the last gift that is wrapped. After the ladies finish, the men begin their exchange by drawing numbers. It is funny to watch and even more fun to participate, especially when there is a "hot" item or a few "hot" items that everyone wants. There have been other years where the adults chose a less fortunate family to sponsor instead of exchanging gifts with each other. This year each family decided individually what they would do to help others. The children certainly had a fun time opening their gifts and playing with each other! Drew and Mikayla sit with their Mimi and Poppi.Mikayla sits with her Poppi as Keyleigh and Barrett play beside them.Daddy and Drew relax on the porch.Mikayla shows off her babies that she received.Drew shows off the remote control motorcycle he received from Poppi.

Saturday was also my aunt Karen's 50th birthday so my sister, Jennie, and cousin, Kathy, decided to decorate her car windows. All the windows on her Cherokee looked like this one except the front! Aunt KK took it all in stride!