Christmas at Uncle Dan's

Grandma and Grandpa Chickens, Uncle Nate, and Aunt Michelle opted to drive down to our neck of the woods to spend Christmas with the California Cluffs this year. I'm so glad they did, because we all had a great time! We opened our gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Cows on Christmas Eve before driving north to Uncle Dan's house.

 Evelyn got some piano music, some skirts made with love by Grandma, and some Legos, which she immediately opened and began building.

Ben got some of the exercise and bike gear he was hoping for. 

Jilly was happy with her Legos and skirts. She also got a Horse-themed coloring book that was nice and colored in before we even left for Uncle Dan's house.

Gordon got some cool Star Wars toys and a Star Wars pillow case that Grandma made. All the kids got one of those frogs you see on the table. They swell when you immerse them in water. They are huge now, almost 12" from one end to the other. 

I asked for quite a bit of piano music this year, and Jim Brickman arrived!

 Grandpa Chickens loves the "Santa Clause" trilogy, so he brought the DVDs for the kids to watch, and so that's one of the things the kids did for the two days before Christmas. The Cluffs love to watch movies and Christmas break is prime movie-watching time. I should also mention that when the Cluffs get together, you can always count on good food. For lunch, Michelle made Hawaiian ham sliders, for Christmas Eve dinner we had beef tri-tip with garlic mashed potatoes. Grandma also brought a 3 lb. box of chocolates for all of us to eat that she won at a contest, plus too many other goodies. There were also 2 Costco pumpkin pies. 

 Christmas Eve pajamas. Grandma and Grandpa Cows sent these cool jammies down. When the kids opened the package Ev grabbed one of the presents and said, "Oh, this one is jammies." They always open them on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition that both of our families have done since we both remember. For the week preceding Christmas, a few times a day Jilly would ask  if it was time for bed yet. I was confused by this, because it wasn't like she was tired or sick. Ben said as a kid, he knew the sooner  he went to bed, the sooner Christmas morning would get here. Smart kid. 

 The kids woke up about 8 am, which I think is perfect. None of this before 7 am business around here. Gordon was anticipating opening presents and hamming it up for Uncle Dan. And then it began. 

 Evelyn happy to see a new dress, and Jilly would open up another dress just like it. 

 Gordon in his "superhero suit!" 

 All the kids got scooters. 

From Uncle Dan. 

 

 And they were excited about it!

 And then we open homemade soap! Just as exciting as scooters! Ben got a lot of bike gear this year, while I opted for mostly music and jewelry. 

 The kids now have two sewing Grandmas as, this last summer, Grandma Chickens discovered that she has a love for quilting. Both girls got these doll quilts and you can see Gordon's new tractor bed quilt in the background. 

 "Show me your mean face Gordon!"

So a Christmas story for our little history book: Ben has wanted an LED flat screen for quite a while, but it wasn't a need, so we had said we'd wait to buy one until we were done with school. Ben opened a card from Uncle Dan that said something to the effect, "I really wanted to get you a new TV... but things don't always work out." Inside was a gift card. We laughed, and thought that was the end of that gift. Then Dan said, "But sometimes they really do work out!" and he and Uncle Nate pulled out a new 40" TV from behind the couch. It was quite the surprise. Ben, Gordon and I were really excited, and the girls were like, "Cool! What's the big box for?" It was funny. 

I don't remember what the big secret was, but the opening of presents was fun and we received so many awesome gifts and I'm glad we got to do it with family this year. It's been great spending Christmas with Uncle Dan each year since we moved down here. However, being with the whole family made it even more special. Now it's time to write out thank you cards. 

 Later in the day I took the kids on their new scooters to the neighborhood park where they spent a few hours happily playing while a dinner of BBQ ribs and chicken wings was being prepared. The weather has been quite cool and rainy this month, which made it feel more like Christmas to me. We've enjoyed the coolness, sweaters, and hot chocolate.