Tim and John started the day early. Luckily, Tim worked super hard the day before (and into the morning of the 24th) and was able to take the day off work. He took John to see his grandpa and grandma. His immediate family usually gathers with them in the evening, but so does my mother's family, so Tim stopped by with some gifts. He visited for awhile and I was able to get the last of my wrapping done and dropped gifts off at my mom's so I didn't have to in the morning.
When they got home, I told John that Santa had made a special stop. My mom oftentimes made Bill and I and later my sisters new pjs to wear on Christmas Eve night. John's mom won't be doing that, but that doesn't mean I can't keep the tradition of snazzy new pjs alive. Since we planned on putting his jammies on at my aunt's, I let him open them before we left.
Finally, we headed over to my Aunt's home. The food had an Hispanic theme this year and we enjoyed homemade tacos, salsa and tamales. It was really nice to visit with my mom's family. My cousin is a few years older than John. Playing with him was a real treat for my son, mostly because it meant new toys to play with. However, John decided all he wanted to do after awhile was to sit on my aunt's step.
Our little guy was getting tired, so we left early to get him to bed. We all got to bed by 11 PM. I ended up waking at 3:30 AM! I am not sure why. Maybe because my internal clock still thinks that is the time one wakes up on Christmas morning. I got to see the most amazing sunrise from my bedroom window and thought, "Now THAT'S Christmas morning!" It was truly an amazing experience.
I finally got back to sleep for a few hours and we all work up by 9. It took awhile to open gifts. John wanted to stop and look at each one. We pulled out the tripod and got our first ever picture as a family in front of our OWN Christmas tree!
We had to get going to Tim's grandmother's house. We enjoyed visiting with his grandma and her twin sister as well as Tim's uncle and his family along with all of Tim's. His grandma treated us to a delicious meal. John was so well behaved and sat on a folding chair like a big guy. Only thing was that he kept stealing food off mine and my mother-in-law's plate. LOL! Tim's grandma lives on a busy street and John loved looking at all the cars passing by through the window. Before we knew it, it was time to get to our next get together!
Next up, my parents'. We wasted no time and dove right into presents (since they were waiting on us!) Our boys really enjoyed all their gifts. My brother's little one was into taking the gifts from John while John was more interested in opening them. So, since they both got mostly the same thing, John would open his gift, G would take it, we'd give him G's gift, he'd open it and keep it. Then they had to play with their toys.
We had some snacks at my mom's. We also enjoyed a few episodes of Curious George, with the adults commenting on the action. Not quite the Die Hard Christmas of last year, but fun none-the-less.
Then, it was off to Tim's parents' to cap the night off with more presents and snacks. I was so tired that I almost fell asleep on poor Tim!
We really were very blessed this Christmas. Not only were we blessed by the presents we received (and boy where there presents!) but by the presence of so many loved ones in our lives.
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