Midwest Christmas Part 2

Christmas day was a good day and a difficult day. It was the first Christmas without Grandma. The first time I'd been back at her house since the funeral. Overall it was a really good day and it was so good to see everyone. I have a blast whenever I'm with my family.

We also had Grandma there with us. We played our White Elephant game as we've done for years. Everyone playing brings one gift. At the end of the stealing, I still had two gifts. Not thinking too much of it, we began taking turns opening the gifts. Russell got . . . well, it's hard to describe, so here's a picture:


A gift this . . . umm . . . bad and hilarious must have been brought by a White Elephant master. No one claimed it. After much discussion and looking at the wrapping paper, we came to the conclusion that it was Grandma's gift. It was so nice to have her smiling down on us.

At the end of the night, we gathered around the TV to watch some old family videos that my grandparents had. It was so funny to watch my aunts, uncles, and my dad as they grew up and even funnier to have their commentary along with it. It was not a Christmas I will soon forget.

Here's a picture of Russell checking out his new girlfriend, Cornelia:


Saturday, December 26th we headed to St. Louis. We were exhausted from several packed days and got a later start than we meant to. We called up some friends who had moved to Bloomington, about halfway between Chicago and STL and met them for lunch. Even though it was a short stay, it was so great to catch up.

When we got to STL, we were the last to arrive at Bethany and Randy's. All 8 nieces and nephews were already running around and being very loud. (Ok, they weren't that loud. I had a headache which made it seem louder, so I avoided the basement where all the kids were.) We said hi and breifly caught up for about half an hour. Then, since it wasn't "Forced Family Fun" or "FFF" as they call it, we headed out on a date night that ended with desert at the best restuarant in the world - The Chocolate Bar. I love that place! It is every chocolate lover's dream. If you like chocolate and are in St. Louis, you need to go there.

The next day was an all day affair. Brunch around 11, gifts and football, homemade pizza for dinner, and a movie after that. It was a ton of fun seeing all the nieces and nephews opening their gifts. A secret gifter named the Advent Angel gave everyone a Life Magazine from the month we were born. That was neat to read and flip through and to see what the big news was at the time we were born. During the football game, I wandered between the main room with all the adults watching the game and where all the nieces and nephews were since I don't get to see them too often. I found them all watching High School Musical, singing and dancing to the songs. Here are some pictures I took on Sunday:

Waiting for presents:

The Storm Trooper Helmet:
The High School Musical dancing:





The rest of our trip in Part 3 coming soon.