Boy, I hollered at her, boy I hollered real loud

This is the gounch. Not Clyde but the little green guy.
Neve refuses to call it Grinch so at our house its the gounch.
2 years ago I put an end to the gathering of family at my moms on Christmas eve.
I thought we all needed to start creating our own traditions w/our growing families and that it was just too much work and pressure for my Mom. After the tradition we have started it may look as if I did it for selfish reasons although I never intended it that way. Luckily Dave's parents haven't had set plans on Christmas eve so for one night each year we hog all the grandparents and Adam and we love it.

Good old Mr Krugers Christmas sealed the deal for me this year even if outdoors it resembles more of Easter. Either way Jesus is the Center so it's all good.
I remember as a kid going in some building every year after seeing the lights at temple square and going down an escalator to the theater that showed this gem of a movie.

I decided this year after reading the Christmas story to do something involving the grandparents a little so that my kids can have better memories. So I asked each one to tell us a good memory they had as a kid at Christmas time. I was surprised that I had never heard my dads before.
He peeked through a keyhole and saw his new bike, went in, put it all together, went out and rode and crashed it (bent the forks) and took it back home, disassembled it and put it back in the box and then acted surprised on Christmas morning.(I just figured out where Nellie got that sneaky gene from and that my Dad was destined to be a mechanic). My Moms also included a key hole which I thought was a fun memory of how the doors used to look at my Grandmas. She just talked about how magical it looked in their front room when she peeked through the key hole on Christmas morning waiting for my grandma to end the suffering of making them wait so long to go in.
It's fun to see how far back some of these traditions you hold on to really go.

Clyde talked about his favorite toys (tinker toys) that he and his brother would play w/for hours and a few years ago they bought some for their house so our kids could play w/them while they were there. Norma had a memory of her Mom making Christmas tree shaped cakes for the neighbors (I think). They decorated them green and brown for the trunk and then put candy on them for ornaments. (I hope I am remembering this right, I will have to check w/Samuel in the morning on my details)
Geez I am really long winded in writing lately. Sorry for the suffering but I am what I am.

Our matching pajamas even for nerdy Mom and Dad. Dave insisted to wear the tops in the picture since they were too small and he wanted to look like a dork

Neve's gifts from Santa

Logan's Santa pile

Ella's Loot

Samuel's pile-o-Pixar
and the rest of today was pretty much wrapping paper flying everywhere, kids squealing, adults stuffing their faces w/unhealthy food, more paper flying, garbage sacks being stuffed to the brim, and all the other crazy chaos of a day filled w/extended family and too many gifts that probably none of us deserve but Merry Christmas anyway!

And to All a GOODNIGHT!!!