Christmas Day with Grampa, Oma, The Runtes, & Seidels

Grampa & Noah---CLEARLY, related! XOXOXO!

Grampa with all his grandkids---poor Jackson was WAY past a nap and was in meltdown mode!

Christmas feast!

Grampa's tradition...one grandchild on each knee, "This is my girl....This is my boy...this is my girl....this is my boy..."

Dad (Grampa) with his girls

Grampa with his ornament made by Noah & Jackson

Noah's 1st game of Twister! Clearly, he didn't care if he fell down! He had a blast!

Christmas Day 2011~

After Christmas morning at our house, we traveled to Athens to have lunch at Susie & Doug's house.  It was a near-perfect afternoon! Sometimes, we have a "vision" of how Christmas with our families "should" be, and then we get utterly disappointed when there are tensions or hurt feelings, etc.  Well, I'm happy to report that with my family, that is most definitely NOT the case! It's come as you are, flaws and all, with the goal being just spend time together and enjoy each other.  We ate a big feast, and everyone brought a dish so that Susie didn't have to cook it all herself.  Noah was SO well behaved, even without a nap...and we just enjoyed ourselves.  There's a real relaxed feeling with my family...probably because we're so close.  Spending time with my dad, watching him with his grandkids...it was just perfection. The kids had a great time playing together, and it was just about as picture-perfect as I could've hoped for. When I left, my heart felt genuinely FULL! I only wish I didn't leave Susie with a mess to clean up!