We have a tradition of opening pjs on Christmas Eve. Chase actually got pjs from us and Mark's Mom(grandma Smith), so we let him open one on Christmas Eve Eve(the 23rd) and then the other one on Christmas Eve. He had been so excited that Santa was bringing him presents. After Chase went to bed; Mark, Kiera, and I stayed up and watched Dr. Seuses How The Grinch Stole Christmas(the new one). So we got to bed late. Mark and I were up at 6 Christmas morning to get breakfast started, sticky buns as per request by Kiera. Chase woke up around 6:30. So we got Kiera up and took them into the living room. Chase was still half asleep but as soon as we mention Santa bring the presents and that he could open them he perked up right away.
We video taped all of the gift opening and just got pictures of before and afters.(I'll post them separately).
While Chase was opening his gifts he would tell me "I'm working on it Mommy". It was cute. And then every time he opened a toy "I want to play with those, I do!" I think his favorite gift is a train track with Thomas the Tank Engine that he got from Kiera. He was, and still is, almost constantly having Thomas go around the track. Mark got me the first season of Bones. I got him a new pocket knife and Michael McLean's new book, Mission To Be Happy. Kiera gave Mark the electronic banking Monopoly and gave me Twilight Scene It!
We spent the rest of the day playing all the different games we got. Chase got Shoots and Ladders from Santa and Robby and Steph gave us Tumbling Monkeys. Which is like Janga, but more geared towards kids. We had a ham and some church potatoes for our lunch/dinner. Around 3:30 we went to my parents to visit for awhile. While there we got to talk with my Aunt Diane who lives in Canada. We then headed over to Mark's dad's. We took all our leftovers and shared with him. Chase was our entertainment. He kept dancing for us and singing for us. It was adorable.
When we got home we played some more Twilight Scene It. We kept laughing because Mark kept getting the cards like "Edward gives you a piggy-back tour of the forest" or "Edward gives you a ride home from school" and stuff like having an alluring scent and so many more. It was just funny applying it to him.
It was a very fun Christmas. Chase's last as an only child. We loved watching him get excited about the gifts from Santa. Next year will only be better!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas Time always calls for Family Parties
I thought I'd do a post about our family parties.
We had both extended family parties on the 19th. One right after the other. First was the Peterson party. Which will be the last. It is getting a bit hard for Mark's Grandparents to do it.
Anywho.... I had to work that day so we got there late. They were cleaning up the food, so we quickly grabbed a plate and ate. Then Santa came to visit! He had a gift for all the little kids. He called Chase first. Chase of course being right at that age wanted nothing to do with Santa. He loves him from a distance, but won't go to him at all. So Kiera took him up to Santa to get his gift and candy cane. The Peterson's have a tradition they have done off and on where Santa gives you a candy cane, if that candy cane is broken then you were probably a little bad this year. Chase's candy cane was whole. It was so cute when the first broken candy cane was handed out, the boys face completely fell it was sad.(total luck of the draw)
After the kids all had their gifts and were playing, we did the adult gift game. Everyone brings a white elephant gift and puts in the center of the circle. A pie tin with 2 dice is passed around the circle and when you get doubles you can grab a gift(of course one per person). Once everyone has a gift we go through and open them. Then the tin is passed around again and every time you get doubles you can trade your gift with someone else. It's fun to see the more popular stuff change hands constantly. Some people are happy with their gift so if they get doubles they don't do anything unless their gift is taken. Mark ended up with a laser pointer with 5 different Christmas themed tips. I started with and ended with the game Cooties. I've wanted to get some more games that we can play with Chase and this was perfect!
Once that was over, Grandma and Grandpa Pete handed out their gift to all their kids and grand kids. Then Grandma and Grandpa got their gift from their kids. Party over.
So we headed back to Magna to hit up my family party. We got there as they were singing carols. After caroling we had my aunt Sandra read a couple Christmas stories, then we moved to the gym for a small talent show and the pinata.
Every year one of my dad's siblings takes a turn making the pinata. This year whoever did it, made the Grinch. Chase would have nothing to do with the scary monster. Mark got him to sit with him in the circle around the pinata to watch and await the candy. As soon as it broke Mark stood Chase up so he could get some candy but he booked it in the opposite direction to the other end of the gym screaming! He was terrified! We were all laughing so hard we couldn't even say "Chase come back it's ok". It was one of the moments that you really wish you had a video camera handy. It was perfect America's Funniest Home Video footage!
After all the candy was cleaned up Grandma Rose handed out their gifts to everyone and they got their gifts.
We then headed to my parents house(at about 9PM mind you) so we could celebrate my brother's 17th birthday. Chase loved playing with all his cousins and second cousins and so forth. It was a nice long day, but very enjoyable and filled with love.
The next day(the 20th) we got with Mark's brother and dad to exchange gifts. Kiera of course was there, she goes everywhere with us. We had dinner at Robby and Stephs. They made a really good El Dorado Casserole. The two boys had tons of fun playing together and we all took turns holding Baby Morgan who isn't quite a month old yet.
My gift exchange with my parents and my brother's isn't until tomorrow. So you have yet another post to look forward to before the year is out!
We had both extended family parties on the 19th. One right after the other. First was the Peterson party. Which will be the last. It is getting a bit hard for Mark's Grandparents to do it.
Anywho.... I had to work that day so we got there late. They were cleaning up the food, so we quickly grabbed a plate and ate. Then Santa came to visit! He had a gift for all the little kids. He called Chase first. Chase of course being right at that age wanted nothing to do with Santa. He loves him from a distance, but won't go to him at all. So Kiera took him up to Santa to get his gift and candy cane. The Peterson's have a tradition they have done off and on where Santa gives you a candy cane, if that candy cane is broken then you were probably a little bad this year. Chase's candy cane was whole. It was so cute when the first broken candy cane was handed out, the boys face completely fell it was sad.(total luck of the draw)
After the kids all had their gifts and were playing, we did the adult gift game. Everyone brings a white elephant gift and puts in the center of the circle. A pie tin with 2 dice is passed around the circle and when you get doubles you can grab a gift(of course one per person). Once everyone has a gift we go through and open them. Then the tin is passed around again and every time you get doubles you can trade your gift with someone else. It's fun to see the more popular stuff change hands constantly. Some people are happy with their gift so if they get doubles they don't do anything unless their gift is taken. Mark ended up with a laser pointer with 5 different Christmas themed tips. I started with and ended with the game Cooties. I've wanted to get some more games that we can play with Chase and this was perfect!
Once that was over, Grandma and Grandpa Pete handed out their gift to all their kids and grand kids. Then Grandma and Grandpa got their gift from their kids. Party over.
So we headed back to Magna to hit up my family party. We got there as they were singing carols. After caroling we had my aunt Sandra read a couple Christmas stories, then we moved to the gym for a small talent show and the pinata.
Every year one of my dad's siblings takes a turn making the pinata. This year whoever did it, made the Grinch. Chase would have nothing to do with the scary monster. Mark got him to sit with him in the circle around the pinata to watch and await the candy. As soon as it broke Mark stood Chase up so he could get some candy but he booked it in the opposite direction to the other end of the gym screaming! He was terrified! We were all laughing so hard we couldn't even say "Chase come back it's ok". It was one of the moments that you really wish you had a video camera handy. It was perfect America's Funniest Home Video footage!
After all the candy was cleaned up Grandma Rose handed out their gifts to everyone and they got their gifts.
We then headed to my parents house(at about 9PM mind you) so we could celebrate my brother's 17th birthday. Chase loved playing with all his cousins and second cousins and so forth. It was a nice long day, but very enjoyable and filled with love.
The next day(the 20th) we got with Mark's brother and dad to exchange gifts. Kiera of course was there, she goes everywhere with us. We had dinner at Robby and Stephs. They made a really good El Dorado Casserole. The two boys had tons of fun playing together and we all took turns holding Baby Morgan who isn't quite a month old yet.
My gift exchange with my parents and my brother's isn't until tomorrow. So you have yet another post to look forward to before the year is out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)