Christmas

Christmas was great. It was hectic, since it was all of the White children with their children, which totalled to 14 grandchildren, with a new girl due in April...no, not me, my sister-in-law.

I guess it's best to make a recap of the events, so years from now, I'll be able to remember this.

Nate and his girlfriend Jessica were the first to arrive at The Commune, aka G-ma and Paka's house.
We hung out with them and had a chance to get to know Jessica, who happens to be a super way cool girl!
About 3 days later, HB, Karen, Jenny, and Mia (aka The Romeros) arrived at The Commune.

On that same day Mary and her family also arrived from NV, but didn't stay at The Commune...they stayed at Oma's a Opa's house, the other grandparents.

On Christmas Eve, or early afternoon, the entire family got together for the re-enactment of the Nativity, with a special play written by G-ma. For having so many people in the house, not practiced, it went pretty well. After the play, taking photos, including almost all of the cousins... except for Arden, who refused to be in the photos, some of the family headed to their other families for Christmas Eve events. The rest of our family enjoyed a lovely dinner.

After the feast, we played hung out, etc. The following morning was Christmas Day.

We didn't get to sleep in as much as we did last year. I think that should be a family tradition...sleeping in on Christmas Day.

Our children opened their presents. Maya wasn't sure what to do at first, but then she got the hang of it, and really liked riping the wrapping paper.

It was so nice and relaxing. Newel cooked breakfast, and then we hung out for a while...until noon time. Around noon the entire family got together again. It was a bit hectic, but it was nice to be with the family.

We had another yummy lunch...we had a lot of leftover soup from the previous evening, so instead of making a totally elaborate dinner, we ate soup again, and cooked a few extra things. It was good. After lunch, we played PAKAS. So, what is PAKAS? It's Bingo, but we call it Paka's in honor of Paka (my father-in-law). Instead of buying presents this year, Newel's parents decided it would be fun to play this game...and it was! It was so much fun. Everyone was very content with the money and the presents they won.

After the fun and exciting game of PAKAS, we ate some yummy desserts. And that was basically Christmas. It was a pretty good one.