Family Christmas Parties 2009

It's that time of year again when we get together with family and have our annual Christmas party! I went to my Ottley Family Party with Isaac while Brett stayed at home with Daxton. (We decided to avoid as many germs as possible this year and keep Dax away from big celebrations.) We always have a great time catching up with cousins and seeing how many more great grandkids have been added to the mix. We ate soup and salad, heard Aleesha's fun Christmas story, "Santa's Stuck" and opened some fun presents.

Top right corner: Emma and Isaac

All the grandkids got darling puppets and a book. Isaac's was a lizard and Dax's was a geko. Since Dax wasn't there, Isaac took good care of it and played with both of them. He said they were his hand warmers on the way home. My Uncle Leon always sends the kids something and this year Isaac got a tiny piggy bank that he could color on. Isaac loves money so it was a big hit! My Aunt Sharon also made some darling pillow slips for all the kids with their name embroidered on them.

We were also given a book about our ancestors that my Aunt Sharon put together. It is so fun to have so many stories and pictures all in the same place. Each book was personalized with our own families pages. Liz made the pages for our family and they turned out great!

Last week we had my families "Early Christmas Eve party." Since we are all older it's still our Christmas Eve party, just on a better day for everyone! We re-enacted the nativity, which had to be the funniest nativity ever. My brother got it all on film and I know it will make for a fun family movie. Aleesha and Rachel took cloth and draped it over the kids to make for some great costumes!

The Cast

Zander as Joseph

Acacia as Mary

Daxton as Baby Jesus

(Which I was close by because Mary was making me a little nervous as she looked like she might drop him. Especially at the end when she stood up and he was about to roll out of her arms!)

Maddy as the Angel/Star,

Hannah and Eliza as Shepherds (attending to two stuffed animals)

Isaac, Cayden, and Josh played the 3 Wiseman.

(Though Josh really didn't want to be part of it as he yelled "HELP ME, HELP ME!" while Liz was forcing him to stay still... it only lasted for about 20 seconds.) It was really quite the event. Isaac had to be the blue wiseman. (How dare my sisters try and put him in another color.) He was really quite cute as he bowed before Baby Jesus to give him his gift.

Maddy was so darling. She asked my mom after who would be Baby Jesus next year. My mom laughed and said, "I don't know, I guess someone will have to have another baby!" Maddy put her little hand on her hip and said, "well it's not going to be me, because I'll only be 9!"

Then we did our name exchange. Isaac got a nerf gun. I didn't think he would figure out how to shoot the balls far because you have to pump it, but he has proven me wrong and can pelt people pretty hard! Dax got rattles and socks, Brett got a John Deer beanie, and I got a red flirty apron. My parents also gave the grandkids a book and a hand puppet. (Isaac is thrilled that we have four now!) Isaac got a dinosaur and Dax got a puppy.

The middle picture is my cute little sister, Mckenzie. This is her through most of the party... texting. I thought it was important to document how her generation works. We had a great party and it's always fun to be with the family.