Christmas 2010

Christmas seemed odd to me this year . . . not quite sure why, possibly because we had the fewest number of kids home in I don't know how long. (Dang, having to share with inlaws!) It seemed like there were several stages. (Warning . . . looong post, alot to cover!)

First, GET ALL THE PACKAGES IN THE MAIL!!! Of course, this means you have to have most of the Christmas shopping done. Whew!

Around the 15th, the four of us at home put up our Christmas tree. Harvey and I found a tree this year very quickly . . . we basically walked onto Olmstead's Tree Farm lot, picked a tree that was skinny (so as not to take over our living room) but still pretty, paid for it, tossed it in the back of the pickup and off we went. The skinni-ness wasn't a distraction at all; it decorated up just fine. Sweet, long-suffering hubby puts on the lights and garlands; and when I say he puts on the lights . . . he WRAPS them around the branches so you can't see the cords. Looks really pretty (but, it's my job to take them off - ugh!).

   

Pretty nice, huh!

After that, the next thing to get ready for was an early celebration with our oldest son and his family before they left for California for Christmas. This year we combined our get-together with them along with our youngest son's birthday. We went to a local restaurant for lunch.

Kyle coaxes Charlie to finish her waffle.

Then gets a "pound" from her.

. . . then we came home to open a few gifts.

 The little toy animal Drew is holding . . . you've GOT to check these out. These Sing-A-Ma-Jigs are hilarious. We got both granddaughters one, and if you squeeze them while they're close together, they actually harmonize! They come in different colors, hair styles, singing levels (soprano, bass, etc.), and they are SO ugly when you squeeze them. But so much fun. I think I'm going to get one for EVERYONE this coming Christmas so we can have a Sing-A-Ma-Jig concert together. I'll video it for you . . . look for my Christmas post 2011!

Chloe loved her "eternity" scarf from her Aunt Katie . . .

 and her Just Dance game for her Wii from Bumpa and Grandma.

Jillian loved Chloe's "eternity" scarf too, and showed Chloe another way to wear it.

This is me unsuccessfully trying not to cry, and Kyle giving me support when I unwrapped a calendar my lovely ladies (Katie, Jillian and Kyra) gave to me, that featured my 3 sweet granddaughters and handsome grand nephew. So hard not having them on Christmas!

Harvey - opening the limousine of basketballs from all his kids. He loved it!

And Bumpa and Charlotte spreading some Santa cheer.

And then . . . we came into the kitchen to continue to celebrate Kyle's birthday, with a homemade ice cream cake (sooo much better than DQ's).

The last phase of our Christmas holiday found the five of us (Neal joined us a day before Christmas Eve) preparing and eating our traditional Christmas Eve dinner: a myriad of appetizers. We always outdo ourselves, and love it!

Cream cheese, cocktail sauce and shrimp.

Tillamook cheeses Neal brought home and salami.

Artichoke dip.

And one of our favorites, bruschetta.

Christmas Eve we all went to a movie together: the remake of a John Wayne movie, True Grit. It was good, but Harvey and I were chagrined that none of our kids seemed to know about the original. (We're so old!)

Then Christmas morning . . . I mean, afternoon (our boys take "sleeping in" to a new art form)we opened presents. One of the kids' favorites is always a photo book I make from a family vacation every year. Everything usually comes to a grinding halt while they look through it.

Then Harvey was almost able to complete his basketball uniform with a shirt from Neal,

And some new basketball shoes from me. Watch out Magic Johnson!

We finished the day out with Harvey roasting a flawless prime rib he'd been dreaming about for at least two weeks, plus all the trimmings, including Yorkshire pudding. Delicious!

We had a great time together, but I think we all agreed that while it will be NOISY next Christmas, it will be a lot of fun to have everyone back together!