The Monkey Family!: 6 Christmases...

Yes we had 6 Christmases by the end of today. We are exhausted and loaded with gifts. (I am counting last night because it wasn't that long ago) This morning Noah decided to wake up before the sun and remembered that Santa was supposed to come during the night. He popped out of bed and tiptoed out to the living room to see what had happened overnight. He found a monster truck and the other toys for the other kids. I opened the monster truck so that he would have something to do while we waited for the others to wake up. It wasn't long that we had to wait for others to wake, seeing their faces when they came into the room was priceless. We opened presents until about 8:30 when we could find no more under the tree. That's OK, Nanny was coming over in a while with more.

Nanny brought presents but not an overload, she gave the kids one present and then some cash in a card. That's nice because now they have some spending money for the months to come.

Grandpa came over next and he also brought one or two toys for each with a card and some cash. Nice! We'll definitely put some in their bank accounts. Grandpa stayed for breakfast and we chatted for a while, while the kids opened their presents, set them up and played.

We hung out at home for a few hours after Grandpa left and went to my aunts house in Coronado in hopes to catch up with my cousins and their kids. They weren't there yet but we exchanged gifts and goodies and by the time we were deciding to leave, the cousins and kids showed up. All the while, Noah took a much needed nap in the car! Good boy!

We then headed up to La Jolla to my Grandma's house for her annual dinner and gift exchange. Almost everyone was there but we weren't the last to show up! We were determined not to be the last to arrive (and get stink eye for making everyone late). We ate and then congregated around to open presents. This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, we all have our 'spots' that we like to sit in. All the presents come out from under the tree and it is just crazy. Grandma gives pajamas to everyone and each one that is opened is greeted with a holler "pajamas!!" and everyone cheers. It's great. There is a lot of love and cheer spread in that house. Then, just when the last of the presents are being opened someone opens fire. Tonight it was Ben. The wrapping paper war was on. Everyone had been saving their own ammunition nearby and boom it went flying across the room. The paper is thrown across the room and everyone gets hit. It goes on for a long time. Tonight I got a bit of video to show but I think it is when it is winding down. I take this time to collect presents and leave the room for quieter space. No one knows why or when the wrapping paper war started but it has stuck around for several years.

That was our day from before sun up to after sundown. I hope everyone's Christmas day was a little less hectic and busy than ours was!

Merry Christmas!

Tree with camera flash on but...