Merry Christmas to All & to All a Good Traditional Night

Happy to say that even though we broke tradition we finally got our tree on Christmas Eve after am haircuts & of course, the boys voted for flocked version...Although Chris hadn't seen one since his grandma's house back in the day, we indulged 'cuz we thought it was appropriate considering our recent weather & anyway half-price that late in the game:) I thought our helpers @ Tacoma Boys secured sufficiently but ended up being quite the adventure to just drive back on 2 streets without dumping it on side of road en route:)












We then divided & conquered for our traditional movie with Shaw side; adults saw 4 Christmases, cousins chose Tale of Desperaux-sp? but boys & I opted for Bolt while dad finished last-minute shopping (incl. trek to UPS distrib. ctr. in Fife to no avail for late shipment of football gear for boys...ugh!) He made a valiant effort though for boys' sake even though they knew it was from dad vs. Santa & grabbed his traditional gift o' perfume for me:)-thanks babe! He made it back in time for traditional prime rib, etc. as well as everyone's fav tradition of chimes (best part is listening to my dad as chorister 'cuz he takes so seriously:))














Also did traditional white elephant gift exchange courtesy of my aunt's reading of "T'was the Night Before Christmas" (you know where you pass to left with every "the" & back to right with every "and"). Folks from Raymond had to head back before it got too late-especially considering road conditions, so it was kinda marathon version but we did it! Luke was not amused with his Christmas jammies, but he looked like a jolly old elf & we laughed when we saw him in spite of ourselves:)! That's what he gets for having a blowout in clothing earlier that day:) He is pictured with my cousin's wife Nadia who spent her first holidays in states!
















Then we went back to Puyallup to actually light & decorate the tree-not to fear! I didn't let my OCD get the best of me on this traditional duty, so settled for 2 looser strands vs. neatly woven 10:) Boys fell asleep in car on way home so they missed out on helping us adorn the tannenbaum but I guess it made Christmas morning more magical for them...For the record, I don't recomm flocked trees with our type o' random but sentimental ornaments & nightmare to vaccuum, but hey! Anyone who went anywhere near it came away flocked as well-Cole was very patient with sleepy parents who didn't make it to bed until 4A. Thus, he had to wait for over an hour for us to feed baby, open eyes & arise not to mention get cameras situated-better luck next year! But also turned into a tradition unfortunately!

Funny story re: Cole's gift to Dane=large pen 'cuz he knew his bro has gotten really into drawings lately. Only problem is he went to Kid Shoppe @ elem. school when I wasn't volunteering & whoever helped him didn't point out that his choice said "Super Sister"instead-oops!:) Mom's tradition of printed corrections paid off & gender was switched with black marker in no time...Santa was very good to us this year as is tradition...












Basically it required 2 whole days to assemble their lego sets & bionicles partially due to preoccupation with new xbox-thanks Grandpa/ma Parker for starting daily tradition!














Here are their ornaments for which I modified tradition and let 'em pick out their own:














Dane was all about the candy in his stocking & especially liked the Rudolph sucker that Father Chris-tmas picked up on traditional late-night Christmas Eve run to Walgreen's:)
















Grandpa Gar, Grandma Neecy & Aunts Cait, Brooke & Britt + Uncle Lance came out bearing even more gifts that afternoon-thanks again for maintaining that new tradition! Wasn't quite the same without the Uffens though who decided to stay in Las Vegas:( Let's change that tradition:)

















Then we made our traditional pilgrimage to Amy's (Chris' sister) on Christmas night for another round o' Rock Band (Santa brought them newer version that had one o' boys' favs=Eye of the Tiger:)and we are grateful that we never leave there empty-handed either (although we don't expect it, of course...)All in all, we were grateful that while much was done later than our preference, we enjoyed that time together and made memorable for the boys! T'is truly better to give than receive on Jesus' birthday; however, easiest then than of all days to realize how much we've been given too & our 3 sons are some of our greatest gifts not to mention rest of you fabulous family & friends!