Let the Christmas Festivities Begin!

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with Cary's immediate family. I always love this night. The adults sit around and chat while the kids run around and keep each other entertained. This year we started with a wine tasting. Each couple brought a bottle of wine for the rest of the group to try. It was not only a fun way to start the night, but it was educational as Cary's dad told us about the different types of wines and grapes, it helped us to see if we really did like the expensive bottles more, and it let us sample different types of wines to find out which we prefer. I definitely liked Kelly's wine the best, although I can't remember it's name right now. Cold, red, sweet and carbonated. Oooh yeah!

As we mingled upstairs, there was a suprise at the door. SANTA! Someone (Joe and Holly) pulled off a great surprise for all of us with special gifts for each child and adult. Carter was so excited that Santa knew his name and also gave him a Chuggington puzzle. And maybe my favorite story from the whole night is that Joey asked Holly the next day if that was the real Santa. When Holly replied that Santa has lots of helpers, Joey said "Oh...so that was a robot wasn't it? Cool...a Robot Santa." (Or something like that. ADORABLE!)


Then we let the kids eat while the adults snacked on appetizers and chatted. Once the kids were full and back in the basement playing, we all sat down at one LONG table and ate together. Bobbi made a really great pasta, salad, bread and fruit. Sooo good, as always!

There was no shortage of presents this year. It was so fun to watch the boys get so excited about opening presents. We heard lots of "I love it!" and "I wanted one of these" from all of the kids.

And after the living room was covered in ripped up wrapping paper, boxes, and various toys, it was time to head home. The first Christmas celebration of the year: Success!!!