christmas at g&g's

The last stop of our Christmas tour landed us at Grandma and Grandpa's house (my parents).  It is the tradition to share a special brunch together.  And there are items that always appear - smoked salmon (my sister and I hog the plate), fresh fruit salad, some kind of sweet buns (I made sticky buns this year), an egg casserole or quiche (my sister made this) and zwiebach (those lovely Mennonite buns that are two buns attached together.  And my brother came to visit from BC and made these once he arrived in Ontario).  It just wouldn't be Christmas without this spread.  After all the food, we let the kids loose to play before the gift opening.

The boys were focused on the crokinole board.  (Notice how Jesse's fire truck travelled with us that day.  He just could not part with it.)

Then we called the kids to begin the gift opening.

Each of the six children receive Christmas bags from my parents.  Inside are lots of treats and necessities.

A treat.

A necessity.

The kids love them all.  (Yes, underwear can be exciting when there are storm troopers or Diego on them.  White socks not so much.)

This picture reminds me of how mature these girls are getting.

These were the cute socks they each received.

My glass of wine (and goofy husband!).

Another lesson for Jesse in what to do when he receives a present that he is not expecting.  His comment after he ripped off the paper "I didn't want this for Tismas!"  We're still working on it with him.  And a note - the boys have played lots with the lego.

And another tradition is the jar of Nivea that my mom receives every year from my dad.  I think our children need to be sure to give thanks for the amazing skin genes that have been passed down from my mother.

And a few group shots (that turned out.)  G&G with all the kids.

Uncle Dan and all the kids.

And we ended the day with many, many hands of Apples to Apples.  Lots of giggles.

And that's a wrap for all my pictures for Christmas 2010.  Now we can get back to our regular life.  I hope to  post some pictures from a number of recent photo shoots.  Stay tuned...