Christmas in Oregon, Part 2

Christmas Day 2011 was a pretty special day. We started it off by opening stockings and presents at my parents' house and then ended the day in Beaverton with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. All in all, it was a pretty perfect day.

The first thing we did was line up on the staircase and wait for Grammie to take a picture of us like she does every year. Someone was a little bit excited:


Then we surveyed the loot:

Opening presents with Uncle Jimmy.

"Helping" Grandpa put together their new trampoline.

Yep, she was excited.

He was excited, too.

I was pretty excited myself!

This was my attempt to take a picture of them with their stockings under the tree. This was the best I could get.

And guess what? Santa did come and enjoy his snacks. I hope he knows his limits.

The aftermath

Like I said, after breakfast we loaded up and headed north to Beaverton, which is a suburb of Portland if you're curious. There we feasted ourselves on prime rib, pie, and gave and received even more presents.

Jude with Grammie

Jude with Grandpa

Jude checking in on Uncle Dave and Aunt Linda

Jude "walking" Rowan, the Wonder Dog. Rowan found the special caramels that my Grams had added to my present and ate ALL SIX OF THEM. Not that I'm counting.

Grams, Steve, Gunnar, & Aunt Linda

Jude, Solveig, & Jimmy

Gramps and his pooch, King

Solveig, Delaney, and Gunnar

I really love those "kids." They were our flower girl and ringer bearer in our wedding, and now Solveig is in high school and Gunnar is a freshman in college. I remember them vividly as babies, and have loved watching them grow. The terrifying thing is that if these kids can grow up, mine will eventually do the same. Yikes.

It's funny how, at the end of the day, the toy of choice is still a dollar bin Slinky.

Thanks, family, for all of your love and generosity. You spoiled us way too much...not that I'm complaining!