Solo Time with Gordon

After Christmas, some of the guys (Gary, Dad, Joey, Josh, Dave, and Grayson) decided to take a quick, overnight trip up to the cabins to check on winter conditions. Gordon chose to stay home and play games with me. It was a rare and special time together, just the two of us.

Gordon insisted on completing this puzzle almost entirely on his own - 63 pieces. ☺

Then the next morning, we played some Connect Four.

And there were several tricky hands of "Go Fish."

Gordy beat me for most of the games. He's quite a little card shark!

We sure enjoyed our special time together, just Gordy and me!

Sunday Evening After Christmas

Sunday evening, we enjoyed a delicious ham dinner with garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and crusty baguette slices. Following dinner, Gary and the boys decided to try out one of Gordy's new volcano kits that he got for Christmas. One he received from Auntie Lassa, the other from Dave & Myra - along with a very cool science experiment kit.
Here, Gordy sits with Josh, watching Gary prepare the volcano for eruption.

Grayson peers into the sink as the volcano reaction begins.

Very cool volcano.

After the volcano experiment, we enjoyed some scrumptious chocolate cream pie for dessert, and then relaxed by the fire while Joey and Dave played guitar.

Then it was time for pajamas on the boys and some bedtime stories.

Grammy very kindly offered to clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher.

Dave on the computer

The boys enjoyed having Papa read some stories to them.

Grayson enjoyed the warm glow of the fire.

Then the boys cuddled up with Uncle Josh for the final bedtime story of the night.

A relaxing end to a lovely day together with family.

Fun, Old-Fashioned, Family Christmas!

This was the first time in years that we (the Schueler side) were all able to spend Christmas together.

Getting all of us in one place can be a challenge, considering geography and work schedules, so we had to capture this special occasion with photos.

Sunday afternoon, we took these family photos shortly before Jen & Tony had to head back to Portland.

Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas together.

White Elephant Gift Swap

It's become a tradition that in lieu of gifts for everyone, we adults swap white elephant gifts for Christmas. So after church on Sunday, we ordered pizzas and did our goofy gift exchange game until lunch arrived.

Each of our gifts were piled up in the center of the living room.

A rare photo of Gary and me -- less than 10 weeks now until Greta's due date!

Grayson watched everyone open their numbers, deciding the order of choosing white elephant prizes.

Melissa opened a "Gandolf" hand-carved walking stick from Dad. Dave opened this holographic photo of twin babies, surrounded by glitter and cartoon creatures, purchased in Vietnam by Tony on their recent travels.

Mom opened a giant, pumpkin orange knit blanket from Jen. Joey opened hand-made pottery, made and gifted by Mom (she made them during her summer class in northern MN last August). I chose Dave's gift, which was cleverly wrapped in duct tape.

It took some time to open. Gordy was anxious to see what was under all that tape.

It's a fuzzy, souvenir jack-a-lope!

...And an opalescent ash tray from the lovely state of Wyoming. There's Mom in the background - the only photo I happened to snap with her in it for this event.

Gary opened my gift, which was a "stay home vacation kit," including a Global Adventure DVD and a CD of Hawaiian music.

Tony opened the gift from Joey, which was a parrot statue and a Dr. Atkin's Diet book. Jen opened Josh's gift, which was a pliers and two gently used DVDs.

Dad opened Gary's gift - a cute little garden gnome.

And Josh chose Melissa's gift - a gigantic universal TV remote control and a gently used DVD of the move, "The Other Guys."

I think all of these gifts traded hands during the swapping part of the game. Gary went after and ended up with the Gandolf walking stick from Dad, which he'll use on his mountain hikes near our cabins. The little garden gnome was my final choice. Everyone seemed to end up with something they had their eye on or could maybe use somehow. It was fun, as always.

Right on time, as we were finishing up the white elephant swap, our pizza arrived.

Melissa helped hand out our lunch slices.

And the boys enjoyed a little living room picnic beneath the pizza table.

Encore!

The boys were asked to do an encore performance of two of their Christmas program songs for the first Sunday service after Christmas, which was great! Now our whole family could see and hear in person how well Gordon and Grayson sang their little hearts out at the Christmas program two weeks prior. Once again, they did a wonderful job! We were all very proud and entertained.

(Press the "pause" button on the music box in order to hear a clip of the boys' encore performance).

Games Galore!

The boys received a bunch of new puzzles and games for Christmas,
and we got right into playing them.
Here, Gordy and Grayson played 'Trouble' with Grammy, after a few games of 'Connect Four.'

The boys got a new kids' wii game from Auntie Lassa too (though Grayson here is actually holding his Geotrax remote control, pretending to play with Gordon).

Later we moved to the dining room table, where a bunch of us played 'Go Fish,' 'Crazy Eights,' and 'Bingo!'

The boys got a kick out of watching us play musical Catch Phrase.

We took a little break from games to watch "A Christmas Story," one of our traditional favorites.

The boys enjoyed spending time with Uncle Tony.

Back to the games, Gordy cried, "Bingo!"

Then Grayson shouted, "Bingo!"

And finally, Tony & Jen yelled, "Bingo!"

It was a fun-filled Christmas Day...and Grayson was ready for bedtime.

In his jammies at bedtime, Grayson was cuddling with his blankie and his new Pillow Pet!

Christmas Morning

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....
Grandma Myra made these beautiful stockings for each of us (including soon-to-arrive baby Greta) this year. They will be cherished in our family always!

Santa left a note with his cookie crumbs and near-empty glass of milk.

Time to see what's under the tree!

Gordon & Grayson enjoyed reading their own names on the packages.

Geotrax airplane sets for both boys

Gordy got the Crayola Glow Dome he'd been hoping for.

And Grayson received the Toy Story 3 Crayola Glow Board.

Grammy & Papa added a few new outfits to the costume cubby - both boys got an Iron Man suit, as sported by Grayson above, and a G.I. Joe outfit, on Grayson below.

An aquatic Batman for Grayson, from Auntie Nenny & Uncle Tony

This was one of the most heartwarming moments this Christmas. Gordy received his "Two Bears," who had gone missing in the past few months. Apparently, they had gone on an adventure and showed up at Auntie Nenny & Uncle Tony's front door. Nenny & Tony had them cleaned, re-tagged, and wrapped up - then returned them to Gordon. He seriously had tears of joy in his eyes as he hugged his long, lost bears.

These are precious bears to Gordon, and have been since he was a little baby. Needless to say, he was overjoyed to be reunited with his longtime friends!

Thank you so much, Jen & Tony - for having "spare bears" on hand for this occasion. We knew there would come a time when Two Bears might be lost. There had been some tears shed in the past few months, Gordon missing his bears.

Reunited - at last!

One of Grayson's 1st requests for Christmas this year was a snowman.
Auntie Nenny & Uncle Tony delivered on that wish too.

And guess what! This snowman sings and dances to Jingle Bells!
Grayson got a gigantic kick out of this!

Grayson loves his new snowman and bumblebee Pillow Pet!
(Gordon received a puppy Pillow Pet).

These are among many thoughtful gifts the boys received for Christmas, from Santa and family. If they are asked what the best gift of Christmas is, Gordon and Grayson will answer, "Jesus!" The greatest gift of all.