Christmas continued...

Christmas with Grandma and Paw-paw Gilbert came the day after Christmas when they arrived from Jacksonville. Danny practiced karate on his new punching/kicking bag

while we visited for a bit. Then, Harley got to open her gift first.

She was so excited, but like all of Harley's animals, this one bit the dust quickly.

Is that an eyeball? Poor flea. Meanwhile, Daisy opened her booties from us.

The grandparents fulfilled the kids' wishes by getting Danny an outfit to wear to the rodeo (minus the holey jeans, those are all his)

and getting Megan the tennis shoes she begged for (which happened to match her new nerd shirt).

Meanwhile, my parents enabled my addiction to Garden & Gun magazine

and for George, at long last they gave the gift of moonshine.

Man, that's good stuff. We couldn't have asked for a more Southern Christmas! Of course, some found it hard to believe when the bag was empty. Kids!

Thanks, Mom and Dad for the wonderful gifts and the special time we have been able to spend with you for the last few days. We hope you enjoyed yours, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it!

George's favorite gift this year

George's favorite gift this year was something he's always wanted. When he was a kid, his family kept board games in a buffet, and over the years he lamented about how much he'd love to have it. Unfortunately, it looked like this

and not having the skill to restore it, he just never collected it from his parents' house. So while racking my brain to think of gifts for him, and in the meantime trying to get this piece of furniture from my office

painted by our good friend, an idea came to me, and I asked our friend if she could fix up the old piece. It was a labor of love for both of us. For her - she loves furniture and to be artistic. For me - finding ways to transport it, keep it a secret and hide it in George's garage without him finding it. It was totally worth it, though. On Christmas morning, he opened the wrapped package of rubber gloves, varnish, and wood repair kit (our family project, I called it). He was not excited, and started stressing about when he would find time to do it, and then I unveiled it. Needless to say, he loves it! The pics below are pics of the project in order of progress.

The last pic was taken right before I covered it up in the garage on the Friday before Christmas. Thanks so much to Tammy Burgess for making this a Christmas our family will always remember!

Is Santa British?

The stockings this year were filled with a variety of classic toys, fun stuff, and candy. However, the candy was not the normal fare. It was a mixture of full-sized British candy bars and miniatures. The brands Cadbury and Mars replaced Nestle and Hersheys. Our favorite? The Curly Wurly, not just because it's delicious, but also because we can say in a British accent "I love Curly Wurlys because..." (if not familiar, the line is from one of my favorite Vicar of Dibley episodes).

Christmas is here!

Christmas finally came! Sunday morning, I woke up and opened the bedroom door to find the kids standing in a line for the bathroom. When we all got ready, we went into the living room in our new pajamas to see what Santa had brought.

When the stockings were emptied, and it was time to eat the traditional Creamer breakfast, sausage pinwheels!

After the pinwheels were ready, it was time for the serious gift opening. We all had a wonderful Christmas, and here are a few highlights.

When the presents were exhausted, we jumped in the car to go for our traditional Chinese dinner. Unfortunately, the Chinese place we usually go to was closed. So, we decided on T.G.I. Fridays, which was packed and delicious. Thanks, Mom and Dad C.! Our Christmas Day ended with a trip to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

We all loved it! We hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours!

A Christmas Tradition

Every year before Christmas, we go to Dorothy B. Oven Park to walk around and look at the Christmas lights. This year, we barely made it, as it was the Friday before Christmas before we could get there. We were amazed at the new additions this year, and at the crowd. It was so busy, we could barely get any pictures without people walking through them. However, we did manage to get a few shots of the lights in, and here they are:

We also got a few shots of us with the kids

and a few of the kids with their favorite lights. Megan found a polar bear to pose with...

while Danny found the Menorah he's been wanting this year.

Danny was representin' his big bro by smiling with the penguin. In all, it was a nice night for it, but the crowd was too much, and the kids were wired from the day. We called it quits after a bit. The countdown to Christmas was almost at an end, and that's something to smile about!