Christmas part 3 grandchildren

It is so hard to choose which photos that will share the special time with our family.

Here are some of the grandchildren that hopefully depict the atmosphere.

This is Siena with the 'baby Snoopy" pull toy. She had a blast pulling it, up righting it, dragging it etc. Siena will be 2 in February.

Garrett, 2 1/2 yrs. is all boy. He took off with the 3 wheeled scooter we gave him. He is on our deck, smiling, and on his way.

Aubrey is really into puppies. We gave her this package of puppie puppets with the book that tells the story. She was really into the puppets.

The grandchildren got a bit overwhelmed with the love our families share in gifts--- and they just wanted to go outside. Here, Siena wanted to be with Aubrey who was 'sweeping' the deck with the (you don't have to bend over) dust pan. She thinks it is especially for her because the handles are about her height. Yes, they are especially for her :) and Merry Christmas to all of you who read my blog!

Christmas Dinner on 12 26

Christmas part 3 - a challenge

Every couple of years we challenge our children to help one of them 'find' their gift by solving 'clues'. They are not easy, one clue even required some googling'. Randy was the chosen victim this year. First he had to play a song on the piano that lead them to the next clue. In this photo Michelyn and Nicole are intently listening-Mark, not in photo named the song "O Christmas Tree."

Another clue included the words don't 'fret', 'strung' out, and 'pick' which led them to our guitar stored in the bedroom closet that had the final clue inside it. This is fun for all of them as they love a challenge and we enjoy watching them work together to solve the clues. Everyone of them racked their brains and each had valuable contributions towards finding the answers.

They found it after solving 6 clues that led from the Christmas Tree to the refrigerator, Ipod, back to the piano, etc.

A new Didgeridoo for Randy!
I bought this, one of a kind, didgeridoo at the fall Chowder Festival at the pier in San Clemente. Later, Randy had put it on his Christmas list...Mom's intuition.. maybe.

Here he is playing it-and he can play it with 'circular breathing' - google it.

Christmas part 3

Nicole and family joined us the morning after Christmas and we were all together and ready to finish the family gift exchanging. There was lots of paper and fun gifts for the children and thoughtful gifts for the adults.

Special family members are our children's spouses.
Staci is a great Mom to Siena, wife to Randy and 'daughter' to us. They are expecting a new baby in July. We are looking forward to a new grand baby to celebrate Christmas with next year.

Nicole's husband, Mark. The loving husband and devoted father to Aubrey and Garrett. We are so proud of our extended children.

Christmas part 2

Christmas day we opened a few gifts. Don't you just love the mess Christmas makes.

Randy is practicing juggling with his new balls and scarves. Mike is reading the instructions and Siena is so excited and loved being his 'little fetcher' of the balls when they landed.

I got a new pair of garden shoes. Santa must have known I've worn the tread out on my old ones.

Christmas part 1

On Christmas Eve Day we visited David. My brother is recovering from major hip surgery in a rehab facility. We picked up Mom and all went to visit him. It is a 45 minute drive to Moms and another hour plus to get to the rehab facility. We made a day of it and brought Mom home with us to spend the rest of the Christmas holiday.

We insisted she be 'Queen Mum' and it was hard for her to do but she allowed us to treat her special .
She was involved in all the festivities of the holiday.

Christmas day Randy, Staci and Siena, and Michelyn joined us for an overnighter. We opened our stocking and a few gifts.

We were inspecting the items sent us by Mike's cousin that belonged to his Grandfather. The WW1 uniform, flag, dog tags, bibles etc. Very fascinating and we are excited to share them with the rest of the family.

Christmas time

Christmas celebration last night (Dec 21) at Grandma Gould's (Mike's Mom).
She gave our grandchildren official Mickey Mouse P J's.
Doesn't this photo make you want to just pick them all up in one great big hug!

Aubrey is playing with the reindeer from Great Grandma's manger scene. The Santa hat was shared by Garrett and the "Lady' puppy was a gift Siena treasured. I plunked them all in Great Grandma's chair for a photo op. They know I like to take pictures of them and I only take a couple photos-no pressure for a perfect picture! I love this one and can see the expression of their individual personalities in each of them.