After that, the other days leading up to Christmas were a blur. Because of strict luggage weight requirements, I had to buy all of my Christmas gifts when I got to Virginia. This made for a mad scramble. I've always believed shopping the day before Christmas is madness, but I was the supreme power shopper. I was up early and beat the crowds. I was even able to grab a bunch of items on sale. It was a win-win for me. And then I blew it all to help Nate finish up his shopping. Why do boys/men always wait until the absolute last minute to finish their Christmas shopping?
My sister Cathee and I were then up all night after Christmas mass. We took over our mom's old duty of wrapping presents. Thankfully all the gifts I bought were small and required minimal wrapping. Because Cathee is the mother of my two nephews, she was up a LONG time. She even took a nap in the middle of gift-wrapping so that she could work through it.
Christmas Day
We woke up a little before noon and exchanged gifts. My siblings and I decided not to buy each other gifts in lieu of spending on the nephews and the rest of the family. I love spending Christmas with my nephews. The looks on their faces when they open their gifts teeters between priceless and straight comedy.
Here are examples of those expressions
Franky with some accessories for Nintendo DS
Ethan tears into the first of many gifts
Franky with what will prove to be Uncle Rob's favorite Christmas Acquistion
When did Nerf guns get so BIG?
"Oh my Goodness! It's a CASTLE!!" - Ethan
The boys with my mom aka Momma Lynda
Grandma enjoys the festivities
The boys open their gift from Amanda
Grandma tries to take off with it
Franky looks over his gift with Amanda
After the gift exchange, we had a Filipino feast of Lechon (roasted pig), Pancit, lumpias, and other goodies. For dessert, the boys helped Cathee bake cookies. {Translation: Ate them as soon as they were cool enough}
Uncle Nate magically disappeared. I figured out why. He didn't want assembly duties. I spent the rest of the day building a racetrack for R.C. cars and a lego Castle. The boys and I alternated between jousting knights and racing cars.
Ethan with his Knight
My handiwork
Rob called and said he had missed his flight. He was suffering through a gnarly cold and overslept. He would be here the following day. I was a bit bummed, but what can you do?
Here he is with his gifts.
Here he is with his gifts.
You're probably wondering why I haven't posted any picture of myself. There is a simple explanation for that. When I'm around, NO ONE in my family feels the need to take pictures. In my excitement, I neglected to hand my camera off to someone.
I did get some fantastic gifts.
My nephew Franky got me some Capodimonte earrings similar to this.
My mom gave me more Pajamas than Hugh Hefner. She must know that these are my work-at-home uniform.
Rob got me a new North Face vest. He says he bought it because he believes that I'll turn 2009 into my big Outdoor Adventure year. There are promises of Snowshoeing and Snowboarding....
Lastly, Rob and I bought a gift for us to share a - used Macbook. A second computer was much needed. Nate's friend gave us a really great deal on it.
I hope everyone had as good a Christmas as I did.
1 more coherent thought(s):
My nephew also received the same Nerf gun. The bane of my existence during Christmas.
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