Servant of God: December – Christmas Day… and the last week of 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

December – Christmas Day… and the last week of 2012

We decided to have a low key Christmas this year. Since we were already going to be on the other side of the water before Christmas we stopped by to visit Matthew’s grandparents and Mom the week before after celebrating with our Bible Study group.

My brother and his family arrived on Christmas Eve so I went to pick them up at the airport. They had already done Christmas with their family so Christmas morning started later than usual as we all slept in. We had Shane open his presents from us before the rest of the family showed up.

Shane with his stocking stuffers...

Shane's new Bible Cover

Shane with his new youth teen Bible...

Matthew with his morning coffee
(He did get couple presents on Christmas morning... a poem that I wrote and a gift card for a date night with me... the rest he got early since he needed new clothes pretty badly!)

My Grandma and Willie made a quick appearance as they do every year. Since our family is too big to get everyone together at one place and we all got too busy to do so they rotate houses so they can see all of the families.

Willie, Grandma, Mom & Dad

We were smart and took pictures once all of the families arrived this year. Waiting until the end always ends up in multiple children being grumpy and not wanting to take the pictures. This year we took one with my parents and all their grandchildren for the first time… before I got married I was the one that always took one with my nieces and nephews but now that I have my own family I passed on the tradition to them.

Matthew, Shane, and I

All 13 Grandchildren from 3 to 13..

Jimmy, Karen & the Fabulous 5

Kim, Dan & Girls

Jeremy, Maria & los hijos

My Parents with all their grandchildren

After eating lunch/dinner the cousins were able to hang out and visit while Matthew, Jimmy, and Dan went out for their new tradition of getting coffee on the Holidays. Of course, after they left we realized we should have done presents first since the kids did not want to wait patiently for them to come back. Thankfully they were able to entertain each other long enough and before they knew it… it was time to open their “cousin” gifts. We had them open presents from youngest to oldest so Shane was the last one to open his present. Of course a major part of Christmas this year was money towards our family trip to California in April which we are all very excited about.

Chillin with Jaydan... what a cutie..!

Shane with his cousins.. they just love him..!

Israel was the first to open a present...

Shane was the last...

Besides my parents that is..!

The rest of the evening was spent grazing on leftovers and playing games. We did the traditional pinochle game of course and James once again joined in on the fun. It was definitely a relaxing day and I am very grateful for my family and how everyone gets along to make the Holidays an enjoyable time.

Of course we stayed in town all week to spend time with my brother and his family. Matthew headed back home on Thursday to see some friends but Shane and I stayed through Sunday. We were able to get together with the cousins various times not to count the fact one family was staying at my parent’s house with us.

After church on Sunday we all headed over to Jimmy and Karen’s for lunch and football and a last minute party with the extended relatives. I don’t remember the last time we planned a party around the holidays for the extended family but it was a lot of fun to get part of my Mom’s family together for a couple hours. It was even better that the Seahawks one the game. Unfortunately I was too busy watching the game and visiting my Aunt Devona to get many pictures of the group but I do have the memories to last awhile.