Christmas Catch-Up 2011

For Christmas 2011, Heather, Elli and I traveled to the tropical climate of Hartford, CT to spend the holidays with Sarena, Adam, and family. This was particularly fitting since our first Christmas out east we also spent it with the CT Sharps, and now we spent this our last Christmas in the east with the Sharps too, before we leave for Taiwan this summer.

We had a wonderful time. Although Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, we decided that it would be more enjoyable (i.e., the kids would be able to play with their toys longer and the parents relax more) if we celebrated it on Saturday instead. We were very glad we made the change. That idea came from veteran parents Adam and Sarena. Thanks for the expert tips, guys!

Here's us Christmas morning getting into our traditional "Jingle Bell" lines in preparation for jogging around the house. I love this tradition, and it was so much fun doing it with more people this year.

First, we start by opening all of our stocking presents.

Heather got me a new ornament this year. It was perfect: Captain America coming out of a real mini comic book. Thanks, Sweetheart! (She got me other gifts, too, in case you're wondering.)

I got Heather two hats (among other gifts). Elli loved putting one of them on. What a beautiful mother and daughter pair.

Grandma Carr got Elli a cool foldable tunnel. She loves this thing and is always asking to play with it.

Trevor and Jared got Air Soft guns that you use to shoot beebees at each other. We had a lot of fun with them; more on this later.

Elli absolutely loved being around her cousins. And they were all so great about playing with her. Heather got Elli this great scooter thing that she could move around the house in. Karinn and Elli had a blast riding on it taking turns pushing each other.

We took the scooter outside, too, and found out that it can go pretty fast. Apparently, I went a little too fast, giving Heather and Sarena a little bit of a panic attack. But Elli really wanted to go fast! She loved it.

On actual Christmas Day, we held our traditional Christmas pageant. It may not have been the most reverent production, but it was fun. Heather as the angel was especially dramatic. Makenzie was moving in her depiction of the donkey. Elli was a very attentive sheep who kept stealing baby Jesus. Jared and Karinn took a new twist on playing Mary and Joseph. Sarena added a feminine flair to the shepherds. And Adam, Trevor, and I were perfect as wise men; we merely needed to play ourselves.

So back to Air Soft guns: these are toys that imitate the real thing fairly well. It shoots these beebees at pretty decent speeds, so if you get hit with them, you certainly feel it. Sarena, Adam, Trevor, Jared, and I played team battle for most of Saturday late afternoon and early evening. It was really fun.

One thing we didn't get pictures of, we went skiing on the Monday after Christmas. Trevor lent me his snowboard boots and Adam lent me his snowboard, and I gave snowboarding a try for the day. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I was surprised how how challenging it was. I consider myself a pretty coordinated person, but this was a whole new thing and it took me 5 hours before I could stumble my way down a full run. Adam and the kids all gave me great tips throughout, and I even got a free mini lesson from one of the resort instructors. Makenzie was great in staying with me and helping me after a few particularly painful face plants. Although I enjoyed the physical challenge and the feeling of snowboarding was fun when I could briefly get into a rhythm, I think I'm going to stick with skiing. My very sore tail end and wrists liked it better. : )

This Christmas trip was wonderful and was a reminder of how much we're going to miss being so close to family when we move away. We're glad we've been able to take advantage of being so close and see each other so often while we all lived nearby.