This is going to be the greatest Christmas season EVER.
Here's the reasoning for Three Christmases in one year:
We're going to be spending the 24th and the 25th (aka "real" Christmas) with my (the Toddster's) family.
As soon as the festivities end in L.A., we're heading off to Erin's parents' home in Utah where we we will spend a couple of days with Joseph's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa (whom Joseph has never met, but plans to charm instantly).
Those who have been counting as they read will recognize that we've only accounted for two Christmases (and they would be right).
Christmas #3
Because we didn't want to haul our Christmas presents from San Diego to L.A. and then to Utah and then back (and we heard that we were getting some really huge presents and we didn't want to rent a trailer), we figured we'd have our own family Christmas celebration/gift-exchange before we left town.
On a more personal note, with Three Christmases on the calendar, I figured that I could get over at least 3/8 of the Hanukkah-envy I've felt since childhood.
With that as an introduction, we now present: Joseph's First Christmas of 2008 (sub-titled "Raiders of the Lost Christmas" or "Episode I: The Phantom Christmas").
Christmas at our House
To set the stage, here's what our place looks like decorated for Christmas:
Some of you may be wondering why we only have ornaments on the top third of our tree.
We still have ornaments on the top third of our tree, but only because it wasn't until recently that Joseph discovered he could stand on the presents to reach the top third of the tree (yet another good reason to open presents sooner rather than later).
First Christmas Eve
Anyway, on our first Christmas Eve we pulled out Erin's guitar and sang Christmas carols as a family. Joseph likes the guitar and had fun patting the strings to make music. We don't have any pictures of that, but here are some pictures of Joseph in his moose shirt and moose pants:
Front
BackAfter we sang songs, Joseph opened up his Christmas Eve pajamas that Erin had picked out for him. In Erin's family they have an annual tradition of opening new pajamas on Christmas Eve.
Here's a video where Joseph demonstrates how men feel about receiving clothing as a gift:
After we explained to Joseph that the clothes were the actual present, he was happy to put them on.
Here's a picture of Joseph and Mommy in the Christmas pajamas that Mommy bought for both of them.
You may be wondering where you can find the picture of the Toddster in his new Christmas Eve pajamas. Unfortunately it seems that in our family the tradition of Christmas Eve pajamas only extends to Erin's blood relatives, and since I'm only related to Erin through marriage...no Christmas Eve pajamas for the Toddster.
First Christmas Morning
On First Christmas morning, Joseph learned that presents can mean more than just pajamas. Mommy picked out a set of cars for Joseph that he absolutely loved. He lined them all up and giggled for joy.
He's still laughing a little in this video:
Joseph spent the entire day playing with his cars. He had a grand time driving them all over the place.
One of the highlights of the morning came as we opened up one of Erin's presents and found that during the wrapping process Joseph had thrown his toy donkey and a prescription bottle of allergy medicine into the box without the Toddster noticing.
Daddy also picked out a wooden hammer and peg set for Joseph.
This is a picture of Joseph playing with his hammer and peg set right before he whacked mommy in the ankle.
We don't have anymore pictures of Joseph playing with the hammer and peg set.
Christmas Eating
Erin made a really great breakfast with manly baked omelets, and not-so-manly fruit soup. She also made orange julius, which is something my mom always made on Christmas morning at my house, so it was fun to draw on our respective family traditions in making our own.
After Joseph's nap we got together with our cousins and went out for a late lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Eating at the Spaghetti Factory in Salt Lake has been part of Erin's family's Christmas traditions for a long time, so we were excited to extend the tradition to southern California.
Here's some shots of Joseph enjoying his bowl of noodles (in the dimly-lit restaurant where I struggled with my camera's manual settings):
This is my favorite picture from the outing:
Joseph's First Christmas of 2008 was a smashing success by all accounts (except for Mommy's right ankle).
Stay tuned for future posts on the sequels to Joseph's first Christmas of 2008: Christmas II ("Christmas Strikes Back") and Christmas III ("Return of the Christmas" or "Christmas with a Vengeance").
3 comments:
first, i told todd he could buy himself some pajamas, so it's his fault he was excluded from that particular tradition.
second, joseph hit my ankle REALLY, REALLY hard with the hammer.
and finally, one of my favorite parts of dinner with the braziers was the gift exchange. lena and dojo got joseph a really cute dump track (that kept him occupied during church today -- we'd stick snacks in the truck and he loved it).
we took the kids to our car to give them their gift, and we had a little toilet that we got for joseph. todd gave elena the toilet and told her it was her present. she looked at it for a minute and, with the candor of a 4-year-old, said, "this isn't what i wanted."
then we gave her the real present, which we think she liked.
I laughed a million times at this post, and then a million more times at Erin's comment. I want to come to your Christmases.
My favorite part was Joseph and the spaghetti. He was so, so pleased.
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