Christmas '08

NAPLES
-------
Every year, some friends of ours put together an FHE where we go down to Naples Harbor and walk the canal to look at Christmas lights because the majority of the homes go all out. They have a contest & everything. Rain threatened it this year but luckily we were able to all go. It was a little bit colder than usual due to the weather but it was still really fun. It was also the day my friend Allie Wood got home for the holidays so you see her in a few pictures here being her usual goofy self. After the lights we all went back to the St Clair's home for goodies, cider, and hot chocolate. It was then we also found out that my friend Ron Morris had proposed to his fiance a few days earlier. On the same day that his little sister got engaged. And a week before his older brother got engaged. Ya. That's gonna be one busy family in a few months! Anyways, Daniel liked the lights and we all had a great time, as we always do. Hopefully it's something we get to do next year too!







CHRISTMAS EVE
-------------
Like always here, we spent Christmas Eve at my dad's. We went over early and just hung out for a while before our traditional dinner of chicken enchiladas. I swear I snacked really bad before dinner though so I made myself sick. Dinner was really good and then it was time to open presents. I wasn't sure how Daniel would do trying to unwrap. He was definitely interested but mostly in hitting the packages, not in the wrapping paper. He did however have a blast tearing up the tissue paper! He got a few books and toys from my dad and grandparents and an entire box of clothes including a pair of "authentic Brett Favre" jeans that Becca just loved since the sticker had Favre's signature. Matt got some movies and gift cards and I got part of the Willow Tree Nativity set. It was a lot of fun even if it did take forever to get Daniel to ty and open presents. Daniel of course got his Christmas Eve PJs too that had a little reindeer pocket. Becca called it his cell phone pocket!





CHRISTMAS DAY
-------------
On Christmas morning we have breakfast and then do presents. Daniel was very fascinated with the tree lights and present mountain, along with his stocking since he noticed that there were his new favorite star snacks in it. My mom got him a little santa hat that he looked absolutely adorable in. Again he was interested in the boxes and tissue paper but it took forever to open presents. I'm not sure if it's like this for most babies but he doesn't normally stay awake as long in the morning before his first nap so he fell asleep halfway through opening presents in the morning. Poor little guy! But I ended up getting pretty much the rest of my Nativity set from my mom and sister. I think all I need now is the stable. WHoo hoo! Matt also got me some Math shirts that I love but nobody else thinks are as awesome as I do. Matt got a "Friends" DVD game, a season of "One Tree Hill" (his new favorite show), and jeans. Daniel made out like a bandit. He now has his own cell phone (in addition to the PDA he got the night before), remote, set of car keys, and a lot books. Later, since my mom had surgery the week before I was in charge of getting Christmas dinner together, minus the turkey. It was so incredibly hectic! It was super fun getting to see everyone though. Again Daniel got a ton - including church clothes and cash (which was immediately put into his mission fund!). My favorite present this year though was the calendar that Maddie, Daniel, and Clayton gave to the grandparents and great grandparents. We got all the kids together and had themed photo shoots for each month. My favorite month was November - Maddie was a turkey, Clayton was a pilgrim, and Daniel was an indian. I'll put the picture at the end because it was so cute. On top of all of that, we got the Brinkerhoff family presents too - a jacket and movie for Daniel, shirts for Matt, and a 24 hour gift card and sweater for me. Of course we capped the day off with going to see "Bedtime Stories" in the theater. It was really good and Daniel didn't go for our popcorn because he had his own star snacks! Hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!