One Day Each Year

CHRISTMAS!
So much, we invest, in moments like these.
The moments of excitement
And eye sparkles
And discovery
That Santa did come,

He really did!

 

And what Santa did not leave,
Oh, joy!

  Gifts from others filled in ...

... perfectly!

Our Christmas's have changed. What was once a simple day at home with a busy breakfast inserted between Santa gifts and opening presents, followed by nap time for us while the children all explored their new treasures, has turned into an early morning of travel between all the local homes.

This year we picked up Dan from the hotel and had him join us as we started at Bill and Stephanie's (above) where we found Kamryn and Karsyn just discovering that Santa had arrived.   Bill woke up Ashlyn so she could come join in the fun.  Bill and Stephanie had Dan this year, and Karsyn was excited to help him open all the gifts they gave him.  She also found him to be a huge help in opening all her doll accessories (move over Barbie - American Girl-type dolls are taking over!).

After Bill and Stephanie's, we went to Tonya and Brian's where Christmas was in full swing:

Oh, Happy Day!

After Tonya's, we headed up to Mike and Makinzee's, where we found the after-gift stupor starting to set in.   They had donuts for breakfast and Makinzee's father and brother were still lingering around the post Santa bust.  But with the two garbage bags full of gifts that came with us (one from Dan and one from us), the kids were all more than ready for Round Two!

Gifts from Dan are always fun to open!

 Next came our gifts to the munchkins.

 And some fun visiting for a minute before they were off to join Makinzee's family for Christmas morning activities:

Brent gave Makinzee a quick tutoring session on using her Windows 8 based pad - the one she won!

Dan is a niece magnet.

After we left Mike's, it was time for breakfast for us - and about noon.  We were very hungry.  Dan, Brent, and I met Heather at Village Inn for breakfast - second year in a row.  Does that make this a new tradition?   Heather ended up buying our breakfast - which she was not supposed to do!   And I got no photos there.  I brought the camera in with me, but we just had so much fun visiting and being together, the camera never got used.

After Breakfast, Heather returned to her home, we dropped Dan off at the hotel, and we went home where I took a long winter's nap.  Brent should have, too.  But it didn't happen.

The evening of Christmas, we all gathered back to Bill and Stephanie's with Leo and Edna, and Leslie joining us for dinner.  It was a wonderful houseful and a whole lot of food:

FOOD!
Our Christmas Table:

 The Chow Line:

The following photos were taken by Makinzee who grabbed mycamera and made sure we had some fun pictures of our Christmas evening.   Thanks, Kinz!

After dinner phone games - how Christmas has changed!

Leslie pulled out her phone and took this picture of Makinzee taking the other pictures - thanks for sharing, Leslie.

 More photos by Makinzee:

Now back to my photos.  Tonya and Brian showed up, and Lexi couldn't wait to give them the gifts that came from their family - because she knew what was inside and couldn't wait to play with them:

Heather's new watch from Tonya and Brian

So I couldn't resist the drooping skirt...

The game was supposed to be a gag gift to Mike, but don't tell Maddy.  She couldn't wait to try it out!

Ummm - maybe it would fit my wrist better?????  (She later found a jeweler who helped her get it sized.)

 Christmas comes just once a year but we invest probably at least a fourth of our year's energy on this one day.   Is it worth it?   Oh, I do think so!   Such a great day!   It was good to have Dan with us, and as always we missed Sean's family.  But we did get to visit for a minute.  They mostly got gift cards from us this year, but when we visited with them that evening on the phone, they each knew exactly what they wanted to buy.   And they said they couldn't wait to go to the Children's Discovery Center with the season passes we bought them.  We're hopeful to join them there sometime as well!