Christmas 2015 always begins with the annual Christmas Parade in downtown Temple. This year was unusually warm, which made the evening more enjoyable. Scott had to work; but, he was riding around the the fire department ATV and we got to see him anyway. Ryan, Jamie and the girls stayed in Leander, so it was just Leslie, her family, Ron and I.
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| Sophie Lyn |
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| Maggie |
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| Maggie and Sophie |
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| Poppy, the girls, and some crazy Mexican (Gerson) |
Scott and his friend, Joe, often work together. They were supposed to ride on the fire truck with Santa, but the Fire chief decided to put them in the ATV to help with crowd control and help out wherever needed.
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| Uncle Scott and Fireman Joe |
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| Scott |
The actually had to help out with one of the parade entrants. There was a vintage car that started to overheat. The guys had to clear the crowd and get the car off the road so that the parade could continue.
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| Temple Fire and Rescue ATV |
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| Leslie and the girls |
Christmas Eve is usually spent at our house. We have a Mexican pot luck for our meal and share home made goodies. The adults all buy for the kids and then we have a Chinese gift exchange. Each adult buys a gift valued at $25 and we never know what we are going to end up with.
One of the best things about being a grandparent is buying things for your grandchildren that you would have NEVER bought for your kids.
The grand girls got to find their presents through a scavenger hunt. It was a lot easier than wrapping them! We got Seth a steam card and a new pocket knife.
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| "you will find your gift where Mimi sits to drive..." |
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| "You will find your gift where Poppy sits and sleeps." |
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"You will find your gifts where Mimi keeps her shoes
and where Mimi sits to sew." |
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| A horse in the car! |
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| A dino in Poppy's office. |
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| A raccoon in the sewing room. |
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| And a bear in the closet. |
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| Lucky Seth; no hunting this time. |
Unwrapping gifts is always a thrill. I can't even remember what everyone got so I'm not going to even try. I captioned the pictures with what I remember. But, that could possibly be wrong!
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| Scott got the twins battery operated toy dogs, which Boomer hated. |
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| Aunt B and Uncle Eddie got the kids Kindle Fire for kids. |
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| Scott got Seth something technical. |
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| Uncle Scott also got the older girls a volcano kit and stepping stones kit. |
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| Aunt Leslie made everyone new pajamas. |
After enjoying dinner and the gift exchange, we took family pictures and played Pie in the Face. Somehow, we ended up with 3 of that silly game! Leslie gave one to some friends so we only have 2 now.
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| Ron and I with our fantastic kids. |
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| Grandma with the great-grandkids |
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| Our kids and their better halves. |
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| Rebecca's family |
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| Leslie's family |
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| Ryan's family |
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| Scott's family :-) |
And of course, the most important event of all was Ryan asking Jamie to marry him. He got her a beautiful diamond and sapphire ring. We are so excited to have her and the twins join our family. She is a very special woman who has felt like part of our family since we first met her. We are thrilled that they have found one another and look forward to many more years of family gatherings with them.
A few last pictures of pie in the face fun and this year can be wrapped up.
