Our 6 Christmases

Christmas Eve we went to Jared's Aunt's house for their annual extended family Christmas party. Almost everyone was there. We were just missing three of the boys. The kids enjoyed the gift exchange and we enjoyed visiting with cousins that we hadn't seen for a while. Uncle Tony (the man in the red long john shirt) came into the room with a large Santa bag and was wearing a Santa hat. RJ and Savannah were little scared of him at first. But Tony reached into the bag and pulled out a large stuffed bear and handed it to Savannah, she became his best friend the rest of the night. RJ soon warmed up and Tony spent the evening playing with all the kids. They loved him.
Christmas morning was spent at Jared's mom's house.

RJ left Santa a cookie and some milk. We also started a new tradition, hide the pickle. Jared got this pickle and heard about the tradition while in Europe. RJ left the pickle out for Santa to hide in the tree. The next morning the kids searched the tree for the pickle. The first to find the pickle, got to open the first present.

Searching for the pickle.

Santa brought RJ what he really really wanted, Indiana Jones Crystal Skull lego set.

Santa brought Savannah a Strawberry Shortcake doll which is as tall as she is! (A great e-bay find, only $8)

Daddy got his Mario Kart game for the Wii and we have all played it non-stop!

No pictures but RJ got his mommy a really pretty diamond necklace. (Jared & I weren't exchanging gifts this year after buying a large TV and giving a donation to other families in need)

RJ couldn't wait to try out his Lego's but we had more houses to visit.

We spent the afternoon at my mom's house.

My parents like to come up with fun ways to wrap a gift. Last time we were here for Christmas I got a large rubber band ball. In the middle was a $100 bill. This year Jared was given a large box. After he unwrapped it he found another box wrapped by address to me. I unwrapped this box and found another smaller box wrapped up address to the entire family. Inside this box was rocks. Yes, we got a box of rocks for Christmas! But underneath all the rocks was an envelope with a picture of a hard drive we wanted and a note saying it will be sent to our house soon. We were excited because this hard drive is for the TV and will hold all our movies so no more scratched DVD's! With kids this is a great gift!

RJ got another Indiana Jone's lego set from his Uncle Johnathan. Johnathan was kind enough to help RJ put this set together.

Playing air hockey with Uncle Chris.

Christmas Evening was spent at my Grandparents house.

Savannah enjoyed a music box with a dancing bear, the same music box that I enjoyed many times as a little girl.

Savannah opening her traditional gold present. This was Savannah's first Christmas in CA and my grandparents loved having the little children there celebrating. My grandmother always wraps one present in gold, it is the last present we open from them.

Savannah loved opening presents. She helped everyone open their present and gave them the gift inside. I was glad she didn't claim any gifts for herself, just ripping up the paper was enough of a satisfaction for her. With each present present she asked, 'Strawberry Shortcake?'

RJ with Aunt Margaret. RJ has always had a special liking for his Aunt, every since he was just a small baby, she was the only one he would go to besides his mommy.

Another tradition at my grandparents house is out dessert, Grasshopper pie. I was looking forward to this since we hadn't had any for two years. However RJ didn't care for the pie.

Savannah had a few bits and decided she preferred the M&M's better.

We took a break Friday and continued Christmas Saturday evening at Jared Dad's house. Jeremy and Lisa had driven that morning form Boise and Josh and Luz finally had some time off ( they both work up at the Donner Ski Hill, busy season!)

(Funny story I have to write down: Sunday we drove Josh and Luz down to Fairfield to have Christmas with Jared's mom. Luz is from Argentina so Spanish is her first language. RJ sat next to Luz and she taught him a few words in Spanish. RJ thought it was neat but didn't understand that she knew Spanish. He just thought she knew a few words, so he decided to teach her a few Spanish words as well that he had learned off of Handy Mandy. If was really funny to listen to him try to teach Luz Spanish.)
Josh and Luz:

Makale showing his daddy his new toy.

For the past three years we have made Jared's dad a photo album of all the grandkids. We were excited to personally give it to him this year instead of it being mailed. When the eyes water, you know you have a hit.

RJ with Makale

Makale looking for more presents under the tree.

Besides all the Strawberry Shortcakes Savannah got this year, this was a huge hit. She loves to play dress up and loves to be a princess. We hadn't got her any princess dress up clothes yet, but Molly did. Thanks Molly for thinking of it.

Our little princess. She didn't take of this outfit for two days. And each morning she wants to wear it. I'm excited she has her own high heels and so she'll stop wearing mine all over the house.

Giving Grandpa a hug.

So Sunday we went back to Jared's mom's house for another Christmas. This time everyone was there. This was a first in a couple of years. While Makale was napping we all played Mario Kart. Here is Jeremy and Sammie playing it.

RJ got more legos.

Savannah showing Grandma another Strawberry Shortcake doll

Makale playing with his new cars.

Savannah was a big help and picked up all the wrapping paper.

We had a great time seeing everyone. We took a lot of family photos since everyone was finally together again. However I didn't get any on our camera and have to wait till some one is nice enough to send me some photos.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year