Christmas 2009 - Part 2

(Continued from the previous Christmas post)


Finally, the week of Christmas, we went to dinner with Lynette's dad (on Sunday) and dinner with my parents (on Christmas Eve) and the official FAMILY Christmas festivities were underway.

We had a fun dinner with Lynette's dad and siblings full of crazy Losee family jokes and hilarity. The cousins got rather crazy and there was some worry that they were going to break through the walls/doors/floors running around. They settled down a bit as they opened gifts, but then they took their loot and made a wild run for it.

We arrived at my grandparents' home a little early and relaxed watching "The Santa Clause 2" (which was actually more fun than I thought it would be). Once the traditional cheese soup had simmered sufficiently and the rest of the family had arrived, we had our official "bread bowl soup feast." It was great to see the whole family together…even those who had missed Thanksgiving were able to be there for Christmas Eve. It was great.

After dinner, we played a few games…a relay race with Christmas bows and a Christmas themed Jeopardy game. It was a lot of fun, although some were crying foul throughout the games. Still, everybody was smiling.

After the games, we exchanged gifts with those we wouldn't see the following day. Everybody was excited with their new toys and clothes. The boys especially loved the cool maze boards that were made for them…essentially a piece of wood with nails strategically placed such that rubber bands can be added, removed, and adjusted to make all sorts of different mazes. They've had lots of fun trying to come up with devious mazes.

Then…it was time to go home and try and settle the kids down for that long winter's nap. They each opened a present from under our tree (which was surprisingly a pair of pajamas) and then they were off to bed. Amazingly, everybody was asleep by 10.

The next morning the kids were itching to get up. We try to push for a rule of nobody up before 7…but they always push their limits. At about 6:40, we were all in the living room filled with smiles and shouts of excitement to see what Santa had left. The boys were each thrilled over their new LEGO sets. Julia was very excited to see that she and her doll now had matching dresses and that she had a new vanity to place in her room.

We let them play a bit but by about 7:30, the excitement was too much and we unloaded the gifts from under the tree. I absolutely love that the kids are so excited to see the reaction as people open the gifts that they got for them. Julia was especially excited to point out again and again what she had chosen for people. So much fun.


The next few hours were spent playing with the new goodies and relaxing with the fun. Around 10 o'clock, Lynette started cooking up some sausage for her family who were coming over for brunch. When they had arrived, the excitement began again. The kids wanted to show all their new loot to their cousins. Food wasn't exactly a priority with anybody. The kids each opened a few more gifts. Lynette and I found some more games added to our collection (huzzah). The kids begged me to blow up their new sledding tubes (I was a bit lightheaded after the third). We spent the early afternoon playing Pictionary and relaxing. Later in the day we decided we should go see a movie…Sherlock Holmes in particular. We raced up to Layton and squeezed into the crowded theater for a great show (was so much fun, we saw it again the next day).

When we got home, we played with the kids a bit and then sent them off to bed all tuckered out. Lynette, Karla and I played a few games and then we hit the sack as well.


It was certainly a great Christmas. Everyone had a lot of fun and it was great to have a fun, relaxing time to get together with all of the family.