we are getting ready to open elias' gifts. he was so spoiled by family...and we were thankful :) he was really into the tissue paper!
but once the paper started to dissolve he went on to play with his fun new toy from auntie gabby.
we always look forward to our stockings...each one hand made by my mom. they are stuffed with all the goodies that usually makes a new year's resolution to work-out more!
here is my dad enjoying his slim jim beef jerky stick...he is so goofy and i love him!
my dad also received a magnifying glass for reading...aaron used it for another application :)
he looks like that cartoon that used to be on where the kid had a football-shaped head!
aaron got some good gifts too-
one of hos favorites was an remote control helicopter from my family. my dad liked it so much my mom ended up having to buy him one too! i was especially excited to give aaron his gifts. it was set up in scavenger hunt form and started with his high quality pepper mill.
clue #1: 'you wont find this clue in your belly button...'
did you guess where aaron's next clue was? the lint trap!
clue #2: 'though we may be far from a white Christmas, you can cool off with this clue found in this frosty box.'
the freezer held clue #3. this clue had the first verse of 'we three kings' and said: 'these magus hold your next clue.' who knew that the plural of magi was magus??
the 4th clue was sitting in the nativity scene that is always set up on the piano and it said: 'this food item is the...breakfast of champions. what is...'
...wheaties! please note mr. manning gracing the cereal box. he is saying, 'look inside!' the final prize of the scavenger hunt was in the wheaties box.
the card read: 'congratulations! i love you and i hope you enjoy this gift. dress warm and be of loud cheer!'
inside were 2 tickets to the colts vs. raiders football game the day after Christmas in oakland. (important to note- aaron lived in indiana for ten years and is a huge colts fan). aaron had never been to a professional football game and even better it was his favorite team playing.
here aaron and i are with our gifts. aaron gave me 2 gifts. the first one was a train set (which was a hint for the 2nd gift). the 2nd gift was a train trip to whitefish, montana! this was special to me because i have always wanted to take a train trip and whitefish was where aaron and i had our first campsite as a married couple. so keep your eyes out for an upcoming post on our train trip adventure!
the rest of Christmas morning was very relaxing. elias got some quality hang out time with g'ma and g'pa.
he loved this dancing and singing snowman!
later on Christmas day we went to my dad's side- let's just say this is about 50 people all crammed into one or two rooms along with Christmas decorations, presents and stockings, and a whole lotta food! it's so crowded that we actually have dinner at uncle joe/auntie paula's house and dessert/gift opening at uncle dwight/ auntie maria's house. no driving necessary between these events; they live about four houses apart from each other!
each person in the family has a stocking. this mahem is maintained by my auntie gloria, who is also the organizer of the kris kringle gift giving. each secret santa gift is placed in the stocking. aaron was so spoiled by his kris kringle (auntie linda) that his stocking was simply placed on top of his plastic bin full of presents!
here is eli with uncle dwight (all babies like uncle dwight)!
it was a long and loud night and after all of the presents, eating, and visiting we headed home. we needed to rest up for the big game!
here i am flashing our tickets while waiting for BART. notice that i am wearing blue under my black jacket- our affection for the colts had to be incognito in the raider nation we were about to enter :)
we had some pretty nice seats. the weather was wonderful and there were only a few scary raiders fans around. only one frustrated guy through his beer cup down onto his fellow raiders fans!
Peyton getting ready to throw another completion!
some practice throws.
the half-time show starred three very talented dogs. the ending was the owner balancing the dog on hand (and the dog's nose)!
final score: 31 indiana...26 oakland. it was a great game to watch and aside from feeling like we had to hide our high-fives from the surrounding raider fans, we had a really great time. and even though it was the first time our precious little baby was not with one of us, it was very reassuring that he was doing well with g'ma and g'pa...and finn :)
the next day aaron, me and elias hijacked my mom's car and drove down i-5 to bakersfield to visit aaron's side of the family. believe it or not up to this point neither of aaron's brothers had met eli!
we made it down to bakersfield just in time for the famous Christmas cup hosted by the clark family. this is a super fun soccer game with all of the kids and the kids at heart.
elias watched daddy with mom and auntie monica on the sidelines.
here is elias meeting one of his cousins (bella). she was pretty adorable in her princess gown and ruby red dorothy slippers :)
after soccer, we took our niece and nephew (kristen and brenden) to 34th street car wash to have some good greasy burgers and fries. it was so fun sitting around and talking with those kids...and i hesitate to say kids because they are so much older now. i met both of them when kristen was 11 and brenden was 7. now they are 16 and 12 respectively. i dont feel old until i see kids growing so quickly.
after hang out time at aaron's brother's house playing games like cranium and apples-to-apples, breakfast in the morning with jeremy, kristen, and brenden...and less than 24 hours down in bakersfield, we headed back to the bay area so we could make our flight home out of SFO!
another whirlwind trip. eli is really getting to be quite the traveler!
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