Merry Chrima! Some families go to church on Christmas Eve, some go caroling, some feed the hungry. The Olivers go to Fast Lanes and ride go-karts and earn tickets. I'm sure Mary and Joe would have stopped off at Fast Lanes if there was one near the manger.



We got home in time to make cookies for Santa. Talk about a believer!

Shaun is big on Christmas display. He plans for a while, and make sure everything coordinates. I'm uberimpressed with the goal post, and so was Ethan. Nana and PawPaw showed up in time to share the magic. We put our believer to bed and hoped he would wait until daylight.

I was so excited I was up at 7, and OF COURSE, Ethan slept until 8. Why do I do this to myself?! I will not have another opportunity to sleep until 8 until 2015, and I didn't take advantage of it. Anyway, at 8:01, when I couldn't stand it anymore, Ethan rounded the corner to our room with excellent news "Santa Claus came!!!!"

He was a little miffed that his Saints uniform didn't have stripes on the pants, but Nana Elf rectified it as soon as she could.


We opened too many present, Rach and Matt joined us mid-afternoon to bring more excess to the holiday, and we introduced Mom and Dad to the Wii. Catching up the 50s crowd with current technology is fun in itself.

We finished our night with an amazing dinner prepared by Chez Bubba Shaun of Prime Rib, Lobster Mac and Cheese {[yeah, its like Tuna Casserole on Heroine (I only assume, of course)], and I wonder if parentheses and bracket laws extend from algebra to literature?} and green bean bacon bundles. It was AMAZING.

Full bellies, full hearts, full toy boxes... all filled up to the tip tip top.
Looking forward to 09 and all it will bring: new baby, new brother in law- and that just gets us to May.
:) E