Christmas at Dad's 2008

For some years now (the exact number was debated last night with no real resolution) my sister Christine, my nieces Erin and Amanda, Dave, Jimmy, Emma and I have celebrated Christmas with my Dad (Gumpop to the kids) and stepmom, Dinana together each year. For the past two years we have had the celebration in January. January happened because I really don't like celebrating anything having to do with Christmas before my birthday and in the ten days between my birthday and Christmas it was often hard to find a day that worked for all of us. January provided dates when everyone could get together. This year, though, Dad and Dinana are leaving for Sanibel in the next few days and not returning until Feb 2 or so. So we did the 'Christmas thing' last night.

The "Christmas thing" involves exchanging gifts, dinner, the reading of "Red Ranger Came Calling" by Berkeley Breathed and the recitation of stories new and old. It is an evening with a lot of laughs. We exchanged gifts first this year. Erin, as the youngest starts the evening by choosing a gift and giving it to the recipient who opens their gift and after the appropriate oohing and aahing that person picks the next gift and so on. You can't pick another gift for yourself is the only 'rule' ..............if there are any rules. In all the years of doing this there has only been two duplicates. One year, a book that someone gave to Dad, Dad had given to Jimmy and this year two different people gave Dad a deck of cards with a Phillies theme. One thing that didn't happen this year, is that Emma and Amanda didn't fuss over who received the coolest box.

After gifts but before dinner we took various group photos. Important this year was the final of the graduation pictures of Jimmy, Emma and Amanda as Amanda graduated from high school this year. Here are the three pictures. 2005, 2007 and 2008

And lookee what I found in the archives!!! Unfortunately I cannot remember whose birthday it is.

Dinner was baked tortellinis (a Dinana special) with salad. Desert was a choice of ice cream cakes; peanut butter cup and cookies 'n' cream. During dinner the lights went out and never returned before we all left. During dinner we remembered Christmases past as a group and from the 'olden' days of the senior adults in the room (this excludes Jimmy, Emma and Amanda who are now technically adults). The family stories are only funny to us so I will not share them here. Suffice it to say we repeat a lot of the same ones and everyone still laughs and embellishes a little with their own memory.

After dinner, by flashlight since the lights were out, Dad read "Red Ranger Came Calling" to the girls while the rest of us waited silently in the room. I have to admit I had the gall to ask if the reading would take place given the lack of light and I was gently but firmly given a resounding "of course" by the girls. The main character of the story desiers a Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hopper Bicycle. Anytime those words appear in the story, the girls chime in unison. I guess you have to be there, but it's cute. This picture is not the Red Ranger ... or is it?.. but the bike in the tree is a (all together now) Buck Tweek Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hopper Bicycle