Wishing You The Merriest!

What a nice marathon of holiday get-togethers we had this past week! Night #1 (Sunday the 21st) started out with our Robson Family's "Granny's Christmas Party." This is with my Grandma Decker, her 5 siblings, and ALL their descendants. It is a huge and actually really fun night! They have been doing this party every year for 50+ years and it's really fun to see all my 2nd cousins. Thanks Barneys for hosting this year! Alas, no pics since I forgot my camera. Night #2 (Monday the 22nd) you can read about in the post below, which we call our Happy Crappy Death Day or, more kindly, our Decker Originals Dinner to celebrate my Mom. Moving on to Night #3 (Tuesday the 23rd) or what we now call our "Christmas Adam Party" (get it?!?) with the Deckers and Rays. This is our Christmas dinner at my Dad and Carol's house. As you can imagine, with Carol being Martha Stewart, the setting was beautiful, the food was divine, the presents were wrapped amazingly, and the company was great, too (it was my family afterall--ha,ha! :D )

After our meal, Carol put on the best and smoothest run Child Nativity Play I have ever seen! Seriously, it will be hard to ever beat! My Dad (aka MyPa to his grandkids) read from Luke 2 while we sang carols throughout. Tye and Spencer joined Mario to make the Three Wisemen.

The Nativity was followed by our White Elephant gift exchange. One of the gifts we brought was an awesome drawing of President-Elect Obama and his family in front of the White House. Shanon & Jared thought along the same lines and Eric got their "Obama Yes We Can!" poster. I can not even begin to explain the tampon box and its related story (a long & hilarious story--gal pals ask me sometime!) :D Aren't you liking Eric's cheesy exuberance captured below!?!

MyPa Santa came & everyone took pictures with him.

Jono and his friend, Kristy.

MyPa Santa & Grammy really know how to throw a fantastic party! Thanks Dad & Carol!

Night #4 (Wednesday the 24th) was our traditional Christmas Eve with the Buckleys. We all met at Guy & Ruth's house (Eric's parents) even with them gone on their mission---thanks Mark & Kristen for opening your "now home" to us all. The night was full of yummy Mexican food, great visiting, and our traditional program. Eric's oldest brother Steve filled in for Guy and read the Bible's Nativity story while Julie and Jenny led us in song.

The program showcased Tricia's daughter Lauren as Mary and my Tye as Joseph--he was so excited! Spencer was an awesome shepherd, only occasionally shouting out "Are we done yet?!?" The program was followed by the Cousins Gift Exchange. I love that we do this! Each of the 23 cousins is assigned another cousin to bring a gift for. My boys have to work to earn money and then we all go to the toy store on a special trip where we only look at toys for their assigned cousin. That way the focus is all on the giving and it is really nice to see them excited for someone else. Two special announcements were made this night: our niece Missy announced that she & her husband Clancy are having a baby boy in April and our sis-in-law Kristen announced that she is expecting a baby in July. It is always a great Christmas Eve with the Buckleys!

We came home to open the traditional holiday pj's. Then we sprinkled Reindeer Food on the front grass (thanks Buntrocks!) and set out cookies & milk for Santa...we hear Santa loves Snickerdoodles! :D Day/Night #5 is the main event (Thursday the 25th) ...Christmas Day! We slept in until 7am and then had a fun morning of gift opening. Our boys were happy, Eric & I were happy...it was a wonderful morning! At 1 o'clock we went over to my Dad's home where, due to the rain, he hosted my Grandma's Christmas Dinner of honey ham, scalloped potatoes, homemade rolls, raspberry jello, salad, and more and more. Grandma does it right! All my Dad's siblings and their children and grandchildren are there and it is a nice time to be together (even with the Suns' loss.) :D

Pokemon cards make for a happy Tye guy!

Spencer loves anything Hot Wheels. This Hot Wheels Town was a hit but his absolute favorite gift was a 97-cent Hot Wheels car that he's been eyeing at the store. Only 97-cents! Wow!

Our gifts to the boys: Razor Scooters! Oh, happy day!

This was a busy and fun week of family and friends. Thanks to all who shared their love and goodies with us! Enjoy your New Years!

BTW- Those of you that know me well, know that I could never have made a new blog-layout so cute. It is true, I did not do it. I owe my blog's new look of cuteness to my sister, Summer. Awwww, the perks of having talented sisters! Thanks, Sum! :D