My lack of posts belies our hectic lives between birthdays and Christmas. We had our usual December full of holiday fun, we got just enough snow for a white Christmas, and now we're all on vacation until after the new year. This year I hosted Christmas Eve for my family, and the above picture is what our tree looked like before we opened presents!
Before everyone came over, however, poor Karl was feeling droopy. Luckily Pippa stayed close to keep him company.
My entire immediate family was there, except Mike and Lamiae who stayed in San Antonio. It's been a long time since ALL the Lundgren grandkids were together! Since we had so many people, only the lucky ones got to eat at the dining room table. Clockwise from the left: Bryan, Scott, Brian, Luke, Jim, Laurie, Steven, and Jennifer.
We were lucky enough to get Laura to agree to play her Christmas piece this year, "Carol of the Bells," one more time for us, even though she's very tired of it.
Karl is not one to pass up a performing opportunity, so he and Matt played too.
For having so many kids waiting for presents, it went very well. They all waited until all the gifts were passed out to start opening them. Amazing!
After everyone went home, it was time to get ready for Christmas morning. Here's our tree right before I dropped into bed:
Laura and Karl held out until almost 7:00 before Matt and I got up so we could open presents.
Christmas morning carmel rolls!
Steve and Nathan flew in from Florida on Christmas evening. On the 26th, we went to Pam and Fred's to celebrate with the Meissner side. The Schneiders brought their cutie of a dog, Oscar, with them.
I keep wondering when the kids are going to figure out that "Pass the Present" is really just a drawn out way to pass out stocking stuffers. So far they're still really excited about it! I think they're trying to demonstrate the "L means left" trick for Nathan.
Tanya and I spent a good part of the evening putting this puzzle together.
Nate thinks Minnesota is wonderful, just because you can wear hats like this!
