Family Christmas

I know that I take for granted this amazing family that I have - there were 46 people there this year!! It is all I have ever known. I know there are lots of people that have a quiet Christmas for 2 or 4 - I have never known that really. Even when we were in California growing up, we went to our Great Aunts for lots of family, as well as received a MASSIVE box of presents from our family in Oregon.

It was another absolutely amazing year. We do a gift exchange - with an emphasis on home made. Among the homemade gifts were an Aggravation board made out of burl wood (you'd have to see it), jewelry, quilts, blankets, scarves, a bench for the end of someone's bed, stained glass lamps, stitchery, inset stone coasters, a homemade purse, a frame, an end table, gift baskets of various types, hand carved wine cork, and other things I cannot remember. Even the great-grandkids got in on it - we received a knitted hat from one.

And this picture -

My grandparents moved from their home of 45 years and the aunts and uncles gathered things of great sentimental value and put them in a random gift giving to the grandkids. They were all things we had great memories of from their house. We had a great laugh over all the things that were handed out. At the top of this list was is this lamp that you see my cousin Craig having flashbacks from. It hung over a bed that we all have slept on, and we all had nightmares about. We all believed it would fall on our heads while we were sleeping. I remember putting my head at the other end of the bed cause I was freaked out over it.