Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday! Christmas + a trip to Papa's house = overly excited kids! We started out staying at Mom and Don's for a few days where we had a nice visit with them and Grandma and Grandpa K. (and Mike and Dee of course!) Saturday was Mitch and Donna's lovely wedding. Donna was a beautiful bride! The wedding and Christmas Eve were the first time I'd ever seen Uncle Ken wear a tie and it happened twice in the same weekend. Rumor has it he also wore the tie with an ensemble of his own personal style to the rehearsal dinner as well.



Sunday morning we visited with Lorrie and Don. Brandon had lots of fun with Mac and Duffy, while Katie and Lainey delighted in removing not only their own socks and shoes, but Lorrie's as well.


Christmas Eve we all met at Aunt Mel and Uncle Ken's to have Christmas with Great Grandma Sugarplum. It took Mike and Brian quite a bit of effort to relieve the two 36 inch tall talking Dora dolls from their packaging, much to the delight and entertainment of all present. Brandon received his dream transformer which also was a source of amusement that day. The age range on the box said 3 - 7. After 3 adults tried to transform the darn thing, we all agreed that range must actually mean it takes 3 adults 7 hours to accomplish the transformation. Once we arrived back home, Mr. Brandon transformed it in about 10 minutes. Grrrrrr!
It was such a big afternoon that when we left at 5, Brandon thought he was up way past his bedtime and kept asking if he could stay up when we returned home to Papa's and the girls fell asleep within minutes of leaving, with visions of Sugarplum dancing in their heads, I'm sure.
Midnight mass at Mike and Dee's church was just beautiful, highlighted by the choir singing Silent Night in German. We were so glad we were able to attend with them!

Christmas morning came and Brandon woke us. He was beside himself he was so excited. He was so fun to watch and the girls just loved opening their presents.

Myrtle and Jack joined us at Dad and Bonnie's for Christmas dinner. We had a nice visit, punctuated by many falling asleep after dinner. Again, the best compliment to the chef "full belly = nap time".

When we returned home the day after Christmas, we discovered that Santa had somehow known not all of Brandon, Katie and Lainey's gifts would fit in the van to bring home so he had dropped some of the larger items off here at our house! We had more present opening to do! Such a smart Santa!
The aftermath of Christmas in the playroom:

The whole season was truly a joyful time. I thought Christmas itself would be sad without Grandpa Andy for he had loved it so, but the day wasn't as teary as I had anticipated. Perhaps it brought comfort to see Christmas through the children's eyes and to realize that, even in Grandpa's absence, he was with us as we celebrated his favorite holiday doing just as he had always done, celebrating just as he had taught us. What a blessing it is to have left such a presence. We should all be so blessed.