Holly Jolly Chritsmas

We had a very merry Christmas this year. It was filled with love, laughs, and much anticipation for what next Christmas will be like with a 9 month old! We started our Christmas driving marathon with a quick trip up to northern California to see Will's mom and family. Santa left a present for Will at his brother-in-law's dealership, so we had to swing by and pick that up as well. (See Pic Below).

We stopped at his sister's house on our way through too. I did all the shopping for the nieces and nephews this year at the teacher store, I thought I had found some fun learning games and books, but Will was not satisfied so he picked up his own gift for his nephew. A duck call. Needless to say it was a big it, of course! Jake was a pro, and I'm sure he will be quacking for months to come.

Next, it was on to the Lemak family Christmas Party, where we were treated to traditional homemade tamales and all the fixins! Yum! The picture below includes from right to left, front: me, Grandma Alice, Will's mom Ruth. Top: cousins Natasha and Katya, Aunts Gina and Annie, cousin Michela, and Aunt Theresa. We stayed with Will's mom and Grandma, and baby boy Ross was spoiled with many presents and a very special blanket that Grandma made.

This is a picture of Will, Grandma and I with all the cousins (not all his cousins, just the ones who could make it) Natasha, Katya, Michela, Niko and Stefan.
We always do a gift exchange game, and it always has really nice presents. This year as we were searching for our gifts for the game I told Will how in my family there are nice gifts and funny gifts. Like the time my grandpa brought a toilet seat. Thinking that was pretty funny he decided that we should get a gag gift for this year's party and spice it up a bit. We set it up perfectly so that his Aunt Gina would have a more than opportunity to be the one to take our gift, and she did! What did she end up with you ask? A toilet wand and a rack to hang over the side of the toilet that organizes your reading material! She was such a good sport (we knew she would be, that's why we picked her), but I was dying laughing, tears streaming down my face. Other gifts included 8 gig memory sticks, movie tickets, decorative vases. We did give her a hot chocolate gift set after the game was over, so don't feel too bad for her!

Then began our week of Christmas dinners (aka, Mandi tried not to double her weight gain) Every year Will's Dad and Michele go to dinner with their neighbor and very close family friends to a restaurant in Newport Beach called Five Crowns. It is the most festive restaurant anywhere, hands down. The best part of the night are the traditional Christmas carolers in full costume that come around to the tables and take requests. They sing beautifully, and the food is delicious.

We also had dinner with Will's team from work in Long Beach. Great food and company. On Christmas Eve we went with Will's Dad and Michele to her family's Christmas Dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. They are a lot of fun too! We spent Christmas morning in Orange County with Will's Dad and Michele. Rocco said he thought he blinked (:

My first Raider shirt, and it's maternity! Haha! Will was pretty happy about that. Thank you to everyone who spoiled us rotten. We loved spending the holidays with family.

I was a little blue this Christmas being away from my family, and if you have seen my little comic on this blog you can imagine how that went. It is really hard to go without my fam for Christmas, especially knowing that the time I miss there I will never be able to get back. Okay getting teary just typing, so I will stop here. Happy New Year everyone!