A Merry X-Mas Indeed!

Christmas was wonderful this year. I drove up to Bakersfield to the Grands' house with T on Saturday. Stacy and Don with their three kidlings also stayed at G&G's that night. Sunday was spent getting last minute fixin's for dinner that night. Usually each family makes a soup to eat Christmas Eve night, but this has been simplified down to only a couple of soups. This year was Clam Chowder provided by Dennis and Sue, and Pozole Soup made by T. So once Sue and Dennis and kidlings arrived, that brought the visitors to 11. Grandma's sister and husband arrived next, followed by Grandma's sister's daughter and husband and two boys and by Grandma's Mom, or Nana. We then had a full house at 20 people.

We had soup and did an ornament exchange (like a white elephant but with ornaments), and everyone wanted the frog ornament. T put in a piggy bank ornament, the same kind that was coveted by all last year, and no one seemed to really want it this year, that is until it was discovered to have a $5 bill in it! Then the trading and stealing went into high gear.

Grandma's family all headed out around 9:00, and little ones were promptly put to bed in the only room with enough floor space to accomidate them all, G&G's room. Boy was it hard to get them to sleep! 10:00 saw Scottie and Shawna arriving, and cousin Ryan came over around 11:00, missing out on soup and ornaments because he had to work at his first job.

Everyone ws up by 6:30 and gift unwrapping ensued. We decided early in to let the kids take turns opening everything, then send them to the back rooms with all their new stuff while the adults opened. So from 6:30 till almost 10:30, the kids opened gifts. It took 4 hours for 4 kids to open everything. That should give you a small idea of how much stuff they got this year. We took a break for 15 minutes to eat breakfast, then it was the adults turn. It took 13 adults another 2.5 hours to open everything else.

So here is my catch:


Atari Flashback 2. Looks like the original Atari, only 1/3 the size. Comes with 18 games.










Fossil watch from Dad and Mom. I love this color, and the watch looks even better in person! On top of which, it fits perfect!















Dad and Mom also sent me this pretty item. It is a jewelry roll, and is perfect for travel. This is much appreciated as I typically use plastic baggies for jewelry.










Also got a beautiful Jewelry Armoire from G&G, a pretty little Brighton bracelet from Nana, 3rd Rock From the Sun Season 2 from Grandma D, and a Bedazzler from T! Pics of the items soon to follow, as soon as I can find my camera in all the mess and take pictures!