Bye Bye "TaTa"

How I love to "cut" and then "paste." I just literally stole Angie's Christmas blog, pictures and all, in about 5 seconds.  I didn't ask permission, and I can't imagine she minds.  Thanks sis.  Just saved me about 1/2 hour.  I'll add in a few tidbits of the Gunden Schmucker Christmas and leave it at that!

But first, a note about Mikayla.  Despite her misgivings about sitting on Santa's lap, she has taken a liking to the big blow-up Santa in an airplane that is proudly displayed in our front yard.  (I guess I'll get a picture of that next year.)  Scott has it on a timer, and at 5:00, if we happen to be outside when Santa get's blown up, she runs toward him yelling, "Ta-ta!  Ta-ta!"  When she goes to bed at night, she points outside and says "Bye Bye Ta-ta!"

Christmas Eve, we went to church, where I played in a flute trio for both services.  While I am so thankful to have the opportunity to play, all I really wanted to do after that first service was to go home and be with my family!  In any case, it was a nice evening, and entertaining, watching the kids get all concerned that Santa actually might not come.  They were frustrated that we were not going to bed, because they understand that Santa knows not to come until everyone is sleeping.  TJ was seriously thinking he might be on the bad list for how much he bugs his brother.

Christmas morning, the kids let us sleep in just a bit.  Finally at 8:00, we had to wake Mikayla up because we just didn't think we could make the boys wait any longer.  We did stockings first.  Of note, Mikayla had a pair of socks in hers, and a sucker.  Tata wasn't thinking Mikayla needed many new toys.  That sucker lasted for a long time and the entertainment factor was well worth the sugar that morning.  We of course then opened all the gifts under the tree.  Santa gave the kids Stompeeze slippers - the eyes on the slippers pop out when you walk.  Mikayla got a ladybug pair, but too bad she was terrified of them. Maybe we will wrap them up for next year for her since they are too big anyway.  Santa's surprise gift was an EZ Roller, seen in the pictures below.  (As it turns out, we must have really been focusing on the moment, because we do not have one picture of our family Christmas that morning.)

Soon after gifts, we headed up to the lake for the Gunden family Christmas. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon outside on various bikes, scooters, etc. Norah's bike was the biggest hit for everyone!

But what about Norah? She loved it, too. And every time she rode that day, she got the hang of it a bit more each time.

A few hours after we all arrived at the lake, the power went out. We waited it out for a while and opened the kids gifts.

We decided we couldn't risk the electricity being out for too long with 5 kids and freezing temps overnight, so we packed back up all the food and all the gifts, and the overnight bags I had just packed a few hours ago, and headed back to our house.  I got a 15 min head start so that I could at least throw everything from our family Christmas into our bedroom.  Clearly, we hadn't picked up the house prior to leaving for the lake.  But with a warm place to sleep and plenty of room for everyone, there were no complaints.

As soon as we could get ourselves back on track Mom and Dad and the three older kids put on the third annual Gunden Family Christmas show, which included Luka on the keyboard, TJ and Norah singing, and a lesson in the importance of giving.  They listened to The Giving Tree being read on the computer.

The adults actually had a fairly successful dinner while the kids watched a Muppet Christmas movie.  I even got to use the "formal" place settings which is a very rare occasion.

As part of the giving lesson, and as extra incentive for all of us to donate to the food bank, dad offered to shave his mustache! Seeing as how he has had it for more than 40 years (since 1969) this is a topic that will be reserved for a separate blog entry (coming soon!).  (Maybe I can copy this one from Angie as well.)

Here are a few other pictures from the event.

It was actually really chilly for Texas!  Probably in the 40s the day after Christmas.   We couldn't stay out very long since we are pretty wimpy...and we don't really have winter jackets!

Until next year, Ta-ta!