Christmas 2008 ~ Part Three

I finally have been able to put together my last installment for Christmas 2008. We went to the cabin and stayed for few days to celebrate the holiday with family.

Here is W with his Star Trek PEZ collection. He was pretty excited here. He doesn't just throw those smiles around. They truly have to be earned.

MK loved her bathrobe and it had her name monogrammed on it.

A received a pink guitar from Grandfather and she absolutely loved it.

Grandfather had no problem playing the pink guitar.

Here is someone else not afraid to play the pink guitar.

A loves the guitar and has wanted one for a long time. She is still practicing every day.

In the next picture, I did not exactly have a captive audience. Only one child was looking my direction but I thought the moment was sweet with him and W standing together.

After my sister distributed jelly beans they all thought she was fabulous... and they wanted to let her know how much they appreciated her.

Here is my happy little family.

The next picture was taken just before dark but there were ten young cousins scattering outside for a walk by the water.

There was a gingerbread house to build and there was definitely tasting while decorating.

Later, I happened to find MK just watching over the gingerbread house... all by herself.

Granny supervised two granddaughters making pumpkin bread.

W and Aunt R singing into colored pencils is a moment that is just a treasure.

We decided to take family pictures so we obviously collected ourselves for a great pose.

Here we are inside under the stockings my mom has made for each one of us.

There were pictures outside of my sisters and I with my Mom and Dad.

And lastly, a picture taken of my sisters and I.

That is a wrap-up of Christmas 2008 and it was all good.

Christmas 2008 ~ Part Two

At this rate, it will be February 1st before I list all the New Year's resolutions I will not be able to keep. I am all about keeping it in order so I have to go back to Christmas Day!

Here is A with some of her favorites.

MK was so excited Santa brought the things she asked for.

W loved the bicycle he hoped for and why wouldn't he?... it suits him. He will not have the training wheels on this bicycle long.
I have made chocolate-chip pancakes in the past for breakfast but it was a unanimous decision that we have the leftover lemon cake from Christmas Eve. We all had simplicity in mind .... or was it playing with presents. They played with their gifts until lunch and then we went outside for more bike riding.

I noticed the last remaining pecans on the tree. At that point, we had 82.5 POUNDS already but after working so hard to keep the crows and squirrels away I thought we should collect them all and share them with human beings who might enjoy them and not hord them away in a tree or rudely eat them and discard shells all over the driveway and yard. D was willing to reach to the highest branches with a pole and shower the rest of the pecans so we could collect them. There was another five pounds and that should do it.

After we went inside, we all had a much needed Christmas afternoon nap.

Since every store and restaurant were closed for the only day of the year, we decided we needed to go out. Even with groceries at home, the hunt for an open restaurant was pretty exciting. We discovered IHOP was open Christmas Day, along with the other 200 people there. We waited and it went surprisingly quick. We enjoyed a great dinner, which was a bit of a surprise since we marked them off our list several years ago.

After having such a remarkable dinner, and since we were all so rested, we headed off to find the best Christmas lights displays and we had a great time.

To sum it all up, Santa did not disappoint anyone, the pecan harvest of 2008 is over, we rediscovered a pancake place and we were together. We played, laughed and just enjoyed being together for a special Christmas.

Today, Granny and Grandfather (my mom and dad) met us part of the way for lunch and we picked our A up. We are glad she is home and we are all together again! We missed her smiling face.

To Be Continued...

Christmas 2008 ~ Part One

We came back from our holiday at the cabin on Monday and I have been out of sorts ever since. Maybe it is the whole getting ready for the holidays and it being over so fast and onto the 2009 thing or more likely because our A did not come home with us.

She went to spend a grand ole time with family. The three-day church camp thing was her first time away last summer and they asked her to stay a whole week. I miss her terribly but I know she is having a great visit.

Here she is leaving...

I have so much to post and many pics to share I am going to have to have a three-part Christmas walk down memory lane.

I had to include the trip to see Santa picture. Even waiting in line, there were smiles and laughter .... at least that first hour.

We did bring home the "official" over-priced shot the elves took with their camera but I liked this one with ours better.

We spent Christmas Eve with family. We ate, there were presents and it was fun. Christmas Eve excitement is unmatched any other time of the year.

We kept them in present-suspense a little longer for some more photos.

A and cousin E very carefully made a stuffed bear. It obviously took a team effort.

Cousin A is a college student and all but this was extremely cute catching her not skimping one bit from educational opportunities while on Christmas break from school.

W asked Santa for a new bike and getting his safety gear completely gave him hope he would have one Christmas morning. He was so attached to his safety gear he wanted to wear his helmet to bed. When he realized he couldn't lay his head down comfortably he gave in and let us take it off.

Here is a family picture on Christmas Eve 2008. They will totally love the photographic evidence of the moment ... maybe even enough to forgive me for posting it on the blog.

Not to leave MK out of a little feature ... here she is with chocolate on her face. We love her enough to clean her face but it was Christmas Eve and with all the excitement we missed it!

To Be Continued....