Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Journal - December 24 - Christmas Eve!

We had our annual family dinner and gift exchange at my nephew David's house.  His wife Nancy did a beautiful job of planning everything.  There were about 24 people and four dogs in attendance!  The traditional dinner is homemade tacos.  My assignment was to bring my Tex-Mex dip.  Everything was really good - and there was more than we could possibly have eaten!

Then we did a gift exchange.  Each person had brought a gift in the $10-$15 range and all the gifts were put in the middle of the room.  We then drew numbers to determine the order in which gifts would be drawn.  The next person could either take a gift that had already been opened or open a new one.  It is a common game.  We had a fun time.  My gift was a box of four beautiful Christmas ornaments.  I am delighted.

We then finished off with desserts.  Nancy had made a cheesecake.  Julie had made a chocolate bundt cake.  Plus, there were homemade candies and cookies.  It was all a very nice evening.

Brooks was definitely the hit.  At one year old, we never know what mood he will be in, but he had the best time ever.  He absolutely loved the dogs and followed them around everywhere.  He didn't show the least bit of fear or hesitation at all.  He kept laughing and signing "dog" and trying to say it, as well.  There is one step from the kitchen to the living room and he negotiated it dozens of times.  A few times, he tumbled, but he would just rub his head and then keep moving.  As David said, "Brooks was the best entertainment of the evening."

Ashby totally loved being with her cousins, especially Lizzie.  There were pretty tight!

It is nice to have family traditions and we enjoyed being with all the Atlanta family who were in town for Christmas Eve.

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