Christmas Eve Part Two

"Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
-Dr. Seuss

After dinner, we scooted all of the grandchildren out of the room so that the adults could exchange gifts. We are all generally too broke to exchange gifts as siblings, but Leslie came up with the idea of having a "Favorite Things" gift exchange this year. So we each wrapped our favorite thing, and we played a little dice game to see who ended up with what present. Then we had to guess who's favorite thing we had just opened. It was so fun!

A Rubik's Cube=John's favorite thing & fuzzy socks with cute pens and a notebook=Leslie's favorite thing(She's a list girl)

Was I the only one who said a short prayer of gratitude when I saw that Raspberry Zingers were back on the shelves? Some delicious scented handsoap=Vye's favorite thing.

A puzzle. We all knew that was Mom's, but it came with a bonus...$10.00 cash, because one of Mom's favorite things is to surprise people with a little money. iTunes gift card=Angie's favorite thing because she didn't know what else to get, and she really does like music.

Dill Pickle sunflower seeds and Lemonheads=Ryan's favorite thing

My mind is drawing a blank here, but I'm pretty sure the European chocolate was Steve's favorite thing and the salsa was Rich's.

The Murphy Oil Soap=Tracie's favorite thing, and Vye opened a teeny tiny box that included a post it note that said: "My favorite thing is blow-molded plastic." I'll give you one guess who's gift that was. Vye was a little bit confused for a second. "Neil, you were supposed to actually buy your favorite thing as a gift not just hand someone a note informing them what your favorite thing was!" Never fear. A cute little children's picnic table was sitting in the back of our van.

Salt & Pepper Kettle chips with delicious flavored water=Alicia's favorite thing & Sudoku Puzzles=Grandpa's favorite thing.

Then we gave Mom and Tony their present. About 25 or so years ago, Mom wrote a list of three things she dreamed of doing. Only one item remains on the list, so we pooled our money together and got them all the things necessary to go for a horse-drawn sleigh ride. Now Mom will have to come up with a new list.

That Shrek The Bells movie, intended to ward off the kids, only lasted 30 minutes. By now the children were clamoring all over the adults begging us to let them open a gift. So Mor Mor got out her handmade gifts. She bought each of the grandkids a new pillow and sewed a darling Christmas pillowcase for each one, then included a new book. If there is any wonder where my love for reading came from, let this be a clue.

Now the grandchildren were dying to open their Christmas Eve pajamas. Only a slice of Pulla could calm their anticipation.

There comes a time in every teenager's life that they think all things toddler are the coolest things ever. Apparently my daughters have arrived at that point. Not even little Molly and Eli got footie pajamas this year, but Sabrina and Jessica couldn't be more thrilled over their sock monkey footies.

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a photo of all the grandkids posed in their brand new jammies. This may be the first year that we didn't have at least one crying baby in the shot.

And now they all had new pillows to put their little heads down on so that visions of sugar plums could dance uninhibited. Right up until the very hour families were walking out the door and as the children got tireder and whinier, parents were warning that Santa could turn his sleigh around at any point. He could sense the naughtiness even while en route. But do you think you could spot even one naughty soul amongst these precious little faces? I assure you, Santa made it to every house this Christmas season.