Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas! Another Christmas has come and gone and another wonderful day spent with family.

As tradition has dictated in the Becker household as long as I have been around, all the Becker children (and their respective others) gather at our Parents house in the early morning (though as the years go by early = 9:00am instead of the 6:30-7:00am it used to) to have some breakfast and then hunker down for some stocking and gift giving galore.

Here's a couple of pics of the Hosts (aka Dad and Mom) and notice how Moira my sister managed to squeeze into both pictures.

This year my dad made some kick ass waffles using his favorite waffle maker, and we also partook in some meat & cheese platters that my brother has brought over for the past few years. All the Becker kids are loving the breakfast as it is a welcome improvement from our years gone by when we used have to eat OATMEAL before opening gifts...oh the torture.

After breakfast we sat down in the living room to begin with the stockings. Our family tradition is for everyone to open stockings first, then Santa gifts (noting that we all still get Santa gifts even though we are all in our late 20's/30's but hey we are never too old for Santa right?), then one by one we open gifts from under the tree. Needless to say, this together time takes close to 3 hours to get through all the awesome loot we give and receive.

My sister, Sheona, in her pimped out hat her boyfriend's mom gave her on Christmas Eve and my brother, Ian, both anxiously awaiting the stockings.

And my other sister Moira, in all her Santa Hat glory.

My sister's boyfriend, Jon, was totally into the Holiday spirit by donning the Santa Hat while passing out gifts (he had the last shift). Also, check out the totally cool Raptor he got from Santa. It moves off of sensors and has a remote control. Jon may be 32 but has a heart of a 13 year old, plus he thought the Raptor could be used to antagonize his and Sheona's two cats, Orange & Grey (also known as Max and Jake).

After we finished opening gifts at almost 12pm (after starting around 9:30am), we all scattered to different locations (my sisters had their significant other's families to visit, my brother hung with my parents and played Wii, while I had a date with the couch at my house for a few hours since my boyfriend, Gabe, was working on Christmas Day...boohoo) with understanding we would all be reconvening around 5pm for traditional Christmas Dinner of Prime Rib, Salad, Potatoes and Veggies (yum yum).

When dinner rolled around, we all donned our paper hats from our English Traditional Crackers, and shared a wonderful meal. Note the one fingered pose my dad and I do any chance we get (actually my entire family shares the affinity for this pose though my mom is none to fond of it).

Finally, after the delicious dinner, we all rolled (literally) back into the Living Room for a few games of Wii Bowling (my dad and brother both won) and a few sessions down the Wii slope with Downhill Skiing (it was so freaking funny and exhausting that my brother and I were dripping with sweat after the race was over you would have swore we had skied down a hill for real). After the physically exhausting Wii session, Moira, my parents and I settled down for two games of my favorite new dice game Farkle (my dad gave me it for Christmas and I love it!) and game which would appear to be of luck but somehow my dad won both games so I think he must know some way to cheat. HA.

Which brings us to the end of Christmas Day, when everyone packed up all their gifts, wished each other a Merry Christmas and headed on our merry ways! I just love Christmas and love spending it with Family. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas as well.

Merry Christmas!