Christmas 2007

What a whirlwind! IT's great to have family to spend the holidays with, but unfortunately that requires a lot of travel time from one place to another. Poor Corey is just worn out after it all.

Christmas Eve at Grandma Locke's is always fun, but as the family has grown, it's not as intimate as it used to be. We used to sit around and tell stories and play games and laugh - now we are all lucky to get there at the same time to eat together. I wish it wasn't so rushed, but I'm thankful that we are all there to share it together. Grandpa Locke is getting up in years - but still kicking and probably in better health than me. I'm glad Corey can know him and will remember him as he gets older. My grandparents have always been generous with gifts for Corey - he got a remote control car (Dodge, of course!), a electronic keyboard, a Star Wars Lego ship and a Play Station Game, and then a card full of money to spend! He was quite happy. Grandma always makes fried chicken - it has become our tradition - and it's always delicious. Corey has a new cousin, Ella (6 weeks old!). He plays really wells with Maddy - she just gets a kick out of him and squeals with laughter when he does something silly. I love watching them together.

Christmas Day we open gifts from Santa first in the morning. Ole Santa was pretty generous - a PS3, along with Guitar Hero III and a couple of games, then a new bow from Mom & Dad and clothes (boring!) - our little guy was pretty happy. 2 Webkinz (Chocolate Lab and Husky and bonus Tree Frog) from Santa. The house was a disaster in a matter of minutes, but I guess that is what Christmas is all about! We didn't have much time to enjoy the gifts - had to be at mom's at 11:00 for breakfast, so we got ready and rushed over. Another tradition - I don't remember when or how we started it, but we eat breakfast, then open gifts then usually just sit around and veg for a couple of hours. But, since we ate a little later this year, by the time we finished that and then cleaned up and got ourselves together to open gifts, it was already afternoon. A remote control helicopter from mom and dad and the Yellow Lab Webkinz, and a camo jacket and Medal of Honor Heroes for PSP from Aunt Jen and Uncle Jeff - naw, this boy isn't spoiled one little bit!

Later that day at Uncle Rick and Aunt Colleen's - Grandma Kelso got Corey a Transformer voice changer helmet - it was a hit. You put this helmet on your head, and suddenly when you talk, you sound like Optimus Prime. Another Webkinz from Aunt Colleen and Uncle Rick brought the total to 6 Webkinz. They also got him a Battleground crossbow and catapault set - (reminds me of Dungeons and Dragons) and a Tech Deck set. We are going to be spending a lot of time on the computer, checking out the webkinz world. Uncle Dan and Aunt Sandy got Corey a really great Camo coat, and Uncle Bill and Aunt Denise got him a camo sleeping bag, along with some gloves. He also got a Transformer soap and shampoo set complete with a razor! Twister, a dinosaur building game and the Pug from Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Karen (now 7 Webkinz). Money from Uncle Gary. Another Lego Star Wars from Shawn, Hannah and Payten (which I have the receipt for and we'll be taking back to Toys R Us).

He has some money to spend again, so we'll be going shopping soon!