Christmas Eve morning is pretty low key with us. After naptime, we head up to Grandma Great's house.
Christmas Eve has been at Grandma's house since Mommy can remember.
This year, Grandma Great waited for two little elves to decorate her tree.
Uncle RJ gave Alexander a lift to decorate the top of the tree.
After decorating the tree, we ate a delicious prime rib, corn souffle, broccoli casserole, and mashed potatoes. Once dishes were done, we dove into the gift giving. While dishes were being washed, Alexander found this barking dog. 
He doesn't like dogs so the very fact that he enjoyed playing with this toy was hilarious to us. After a bit of time, he and his cousin Lorelli ended up hanging out with Ho-Ho Papa.
We start in the front room with stockings and move into the back room for the white elephant exchange.
Thankfully, Umma gave a few gifts to keep Alexander occupied during the exchange.
Christmas morning found us chasing a toddler into the living room as he yelled, "WOOWOO TRACK". As he opened each gift, he would look at us and say, "woo woo track now?" Finally, he opened his last gift - a GeoTrax train system.
And hasn't stopped playing with it since.
A few hours later, we headed over to Ho-Ho Papa and Umma's house for more family time.
It was a whirlwind of wrapping paper, flying monkeys, a princess in pajamas, and a toddler screaming, "more woowoo track".
Like most of society, the economy has impacted our family and we all cut back. Instead of worrying about how much money was spent, we each took time to find presents with meaning. From wedding pictures to a Star Trek phaser, the gifts had extra meaning this year because each purchase was made with the thought of how it would be received, rather than whether it would be enough.
Alexander's gift to Ho-Ho Papa was no different. Ho-Ho Papa has announced football for the local high school for 21 years and we suspect this year will be his last. He would never allow a ceremony to mark his retirement, so Mommy worked a little Christmas magic. She asked the coaches to have a helmet signed by the entire team (who placed second in state this year) and even in the midst of the playoff run, the team came through for her.
Do you think Ho-Ho Papa liked it?
Someone else certainly did!
It definitely was a Christmas to remember.
A few hours later, we headed over to Ho-Ho Papa and Umma's house for more family time.
It was a whirlwind of wrapping paper, flying monkeys, a princess in pajamas, and a toddler screaming, "more woowoo track".
Like most of society, the economy has impacted our family and we all cut back. Instead of worrying about how much money was spent, we each took time to find presents with meaning. From wedding pictures to a Star Trek phaser, the gifts had extra meaning this year because each purchase was made with the thought of how it would be received, rather than whether it would be enough.
Alexander's gift to Ho-Ho Papa was no different. Ho-Ho Papa has announced football for the local high school for 21 years and we suspect this year will be his last. He would never allow a ceremony to mark his retirement, so Mommy worked a little Christmas magic. She asked the coaches to have a helmet signed by the entire team (who placed second in state this year) and even in the midst of the playoff run, the team came through for her.
Do you think Ho-Ho Papa liked it?
Someone else certainly did!
It definitely was a Christmas to remember.
1 comment:
It was a beautiful Christmas spent with those we love so much and missing those who we love that are elsewhere. We are blessed.
Grrma
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