I was reminded of why Christmas with the O Gang is one of my absolute favorite times of the year... every year! The morning started early with lots of smiles and energy from Sam, Sadie and Lucas as they ravaged through their plentiful presents at Auntie and Unc Unc's house. The kids' big gifts included the XBox (for Sam), American Girl and horse (for Sadie) and crawling tunnel (for Lucas). By the looks of things, the elves must have worked overtime this year!
Well, all that unwrapping was enough to work up an appetite. Before it was time to eat, I rushed home to wake Eleanor and Kyle (who were sleeping in since we'd had such a late Christmas Eve and Kyle had a painful tooth infection). Once we were showered and dressed, our little family of three got to join the festivities together with the rest of the O gang. (By the way, Eleanor looked like a perfect Christmas doll in her adorable "First Christmas" onesie adorned with red and green ribbons and bows.) Once we arrived, I quickly entered a food coma from the cheese strata, bacon, coffee, and french toast that had been lovingly prepared by Mom, Val, and Uncle Neill. As for the rest of the afternoon, we finished opening gifts, took photos, passed Eleanor around and just savored the peacefulness of the day and celebration of our Savior's birth.
We came together again that evening for a huge turkey dinner, one of the best I've ever devoured! We wore our headlamps from Auntie and Unc Unc to remind us that we were the "light" of their life. Then, we sang what we could remember of "This Little Light of Mine" and concluded the evening with Charley's cake and home videos of past Christmases.
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| Kyle's New Guitar- Can't wait to be serenaded with it! |
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| Eleanor with the Aunties |
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| E Trying out Her New Hat Knitted by Auntie Reba |
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| Val Giving Eleanor her First Lesson on Soccer |
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| The "Gang" (minus the Rodriguez family and Faye, who had already departed) |
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| Awwwwwww |
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| Holdin' My Girl |
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| Giggle for T |
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| The Sisters Picture (plus one sweet baby Eleanor) |
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| Eleanor Lovin' the Attention and Being in Auntie's Arms |
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| Trying out the Jumperoo with Auntie Val |
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| I'm not sure if Sam or Kyle was being naughty here. |
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| We got lots of beautiful cards and snowflakes from Sadie. |
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| Hangin' with Saralyn |
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| Playing with One of the New Remote Controlled Toys |
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| Reenacting a Christmas Home Video |
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| Lucas is a Walking Champ! |
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| Apparently, Unc Unc is an AMAZING cook and a baby whisperer. |
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| "This little light of mine..." |
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| The Almost Married Couple, Reba and Cole, with Sadie |
