Christmas : Part 2

For years now, it's become a tradition that we celebrate our huge family Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house. This is the aunt and uncle who have 7 grown children by the way ! Now that all of my cousins are grown, with the exception of one, they have started families of their own and we don't see one another as often as we'd like due to busy schedules, etc. With this said, it's our family Christmas that we all look forward to celebrating together each year that everyone can be a part of. We're all thankful that my cousin Andy is back from Iraq this year to be with us !

Knowing the crowd that gathers here, we can pretty much expect a good time and lots of chaos and laughter. I'm happy to report that this year was no different ! As always, we enjoyed a great dinner and the much anticipated Chinese gift exchange. Just in case you call it something different, it's an anonymous gift exchange where numbers are drawn and you choose a random gift. "Stealing" for a better gift is encouraged and you never really know what you'll take home by the end of the evening. This must have been Eric's lucky year for the best gift. The gift he unwrapped turned out to be a Victorian style porcelain ladies shoe filled with candy and a framed picture of another uncle (who wasn't even there to defend himself) whose head was cut and pasted onto a Mardi Gras partier who was covered in white body paint, wearing a diaper and swinging from a carousel horse ! Can you believe he ditched that gift for something better ?
I almost ended up with a lifetime supply of Trojan condoms. Ummm... I don't know, about 8 family sized boxes maybe ? I had my 5 year old cousin pass them onto another cousin who just delivered her son 2 weeks ago ! Can you believe no one wanted to steal them from me ? My Aunt Pat and Uncle Pete were so kind to play Santa for all of the little ones, bringing perfect, age-appropriate gifts for each child. Elaina took home a singing Minnie Mouse donning a red and white Christmas dress. She loved it ! That was incredibly kind and thoughtful of my dear aunt and uncle I must say !

And so, another year passes and we all had a great and memorable time celebrating Christmas. The rest of our story is better told in pictures and captions. Enjoy !










2006 Family Christmas picture with our cross-armed Indian Chief in the middle. ( She just started doing the cross-arms bit which looks so darn cute and funny !)
** a double click should enable a larger picture







Sweetness : Cute and Tired


















You try posing 6 kids ! All second cousins to one another, the 4 to the right are all within a year of each other. So fun !












Elaina has discovered her musical talent lies in playing the harmonica (no handed to boot !) while she claps her hands ! Her cousin, Aidan, however, relies on his fingers with little chance for sound !




We loved every minute of it !!