christmas trip, part 3

Christmas morning! In Laura's family, it's a tradition for all the kids to wait until a certain time to all come and see the presents together. It's fun that the grandkids are now part of that too.

Brooklyn was excited to see all the presents under the tree and all across the living room floor -- lots of family members together means lots of presents!

We helped her go through her stocking -- she was most excited about her goldfish and animal crackers... and the Reese's Pieces candy canes that mom and dad each got in theirs.

Since she had a birthday not too long ago, she was a pro at opening gifts. In many ways this felt like her first Christmas, even though it was her second.

Some of the favorite presents of the day: a tiger chair from David, a kitty from Emily, and goldfish crackers from Santa.

The grandkids all got fold-up chairs and they were a hit.

Brooklyn was thrilled to get her very own "bah-ket-bah" from mom and dad.

The last present of the day was a scavenger hunt for Laura's family that led to a new computer in Perry's car -- all the grown-up kids chipped in for the secret gift :)

We loved spending the day together. Christmas has been and will always be a special time of year for us.

New shoes! We each gave each other a few ideas to choose from and let them pick the ones they liked best.

Livia got a dinosaur watercolor set and needed some help painting.

Another attempt at a cousins photo.

Our little Christmas angel!

Sisters photo...

...and a brothers-in-law photo. The three wise guys?

We took Brooklyn to a local house that has hundreds upon hundreds of Christmas decorations in the yard and -- specifically -- in the garage. Train sets, cartoon characters, etc -- meant to be a "Santa's Workshop" of sorts.

Brooklyn loved it (she was too cranky to join everyone else the night before). It's a random collection of lots of Christmas toys and trinkets that might initially seem to some like a cluttered mess that could get someone on one of those pack rat reality shows, but reading through a guest book that the owner leaves out, it was surprisingly touching to see how much the eclectic display means to children and their parents each year.

The day after Christmas was our turn to cook. Both of us went on missions but we decided Ukrainian food sounded more interesting than Ohio food. That said, we did make buckeyes for some neighbors/church friends before we left, so Laura was not left out!

We went with (clockwise from right) borscht, piroshki, and chicken kiev. Borscht is a traditional soup/stew (don't let a Russian or Ukrainian hear you call it that though) made with beets, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, garlic, onion, et cetera -- and it's tasty. Even the kids were brave enough to have a bit. Piroshki -- a common street food -- were the big hit -- fried rolls with a mashed potato filling. And chicken kiev is more of a fancy dish -- breaded, herb-butter-stuffed chicken -- that would be more commonly found in a restaurant.

Emily got a Wii dance game (we can't remember the title off-hand) that was a big hit when the little kids were off to bed.

The little kids had fun playing together when they were awake though.

The boys stayed at home with the little kids so the girls...

...could go get treats together!

Brooklyn loved playing in a yard with grass.

And just when you thought she couldn't get any happier...

...we went to visit the animal shelter that Emily volunteers at every week.

She loved the cats -- she was immediately down on their level to try and play.

This little kitten was absolutely adorable -- we wanted to take him home! (Eh, we'll wait a while on pets, and even then we might start with ones that swim)

Some of the boys went out to shoot some hoops...

...while Jon prepared food from his mission. He served in Washington (at times he wasn't far from where we live now) but taught people in Spanish and really developed a love for the folks from Mexico who have immigrated up here.

So it was real Mexican-style enchiladas served with the tastiest refried beans we've had in a long time and veggies. We also tried horchata, which was tasty as well.

Speaking of trying drinks, we gave Brooklyn her first taste of soda -- and like her first go at sweets, it wasn't the reaction we were expecting. More of a non-reaction in this case (as opposed to tears and refusing to eat birthday cake a few months ago). Oh well.