Presents and more presents and still three days until Christmas!

Ride 'em Eli
Eggie helping with Noelie's gifts
Noelie holding concert
Noelie sandwich - Maddie and Zoe as "The Buns"
Drayton and Maw Maw Sanders
I'm not getting any closer

We took a journey to Orange Saturday to celebrate Christmas with the Allen side of the fam. It has been a long time since we've seen everyone and especially everyone in one place! My Maw Maw was looking good! Getting up by herself to come in the next room to watch the blur of flying gift wrap and bows from the kids opening presents. In a word - chaos! I always know my gift wrap attempt looks lame compared to the neatly wrapped packages given by my aunts with perfect bows and gift toppers, but when the time to open them comes, I realize - I am ok because at the age of the kids in my family no one is looking at the gift wrap they just want to get to the good stuff.

Growing up we had this every Sunday. Dinner at Maw Maw Allens with the entire family - aunts, uncles, cousins - floating in and out all day (and this was just after lunch at my Grandparents Sander's house where it was the same) - not the gifts every Sunday but the gifts are really just secondary in the fun category, right? But ALWAYS lots of people and lots of food. Well, it's amazing how easy it is to take advantage of this and before you know it weeks, months and years get away before you have everyone together again. Such is life, I guess. You grow up and have family of your own and, at least in my case, move away.

Growing up it was so nice to not only be close to my immediate family but close to all of my cousins. Always had someone looking out for you when you need it or there to support you when it mattered most. I hope - with technology the way it is - that Noelie and Eli will have the same opportunity to bond with their out-of-town family. I know Houston isn't even a plane trip away, but I do know it can be a hassle and intimidating traffic-wise to undertake a trip fit into the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Hopefully Noelie will be able to 'beam up' Kinslie, Peyton, Maddie, Megan, Zoe, etc. to talk about all the important things like dance recitals, the mean girls at school, the school dance, her sweet sixteen, etc. just like I was able to do. Even if it won't always be just like me waiting up in my cousin's bed until the roller rink closes so my cousin Cindy could fill me in on who she couple-skated with(also the thrill of watching her get ready to go to the roller rink with those tight Chic jeans that she had to zip up using a hanger they were so tight or that perfectly feathered hair cemented in place by a lethal dose of Aquanet:) or the tables turned with me coming in from a date in my high school years to find my bedroom full of my Frey cousins that lived across the street ready for a slumber party (amazing how all four of us could fit in one bed) or Brooke and Brett and I having some major hairdo makeovers and fashion shows and showing them the art of breakdancing (I was the queen of the centipede - I'm sure there's video somewhere to prove it), or celebrating Maci making cheerleader. And my brother had the same opportunities with the boy cousins. Of course for my kids it won't be exactly the same to bond with my side of the family due to geography but hopefully, like I mentioned, technology will make it almost as good!

Needless to say the kiddos raked in some major gifts and the very next day the Freys and Drayton came to celebrate our Christmas early as they are heading to Bama to spend Christmas there. So today, when my in-laws Rick and Kathy arrived Noelie was wondering when the party was going to start back up. I think she's taking advantage of the party atmosphere to sneak in more cookies than she should. She was disappointed that the actual Ellestad 'party' will not resume until Christmas Eve. So, I guess, the countdown is on! Eli did good in the gift department as well. One thing of the many things I am thrilled he got thus far is a stylin cowboy hat (camera ready moments followed) and an Exersaucer (which is very cute while wearing the cowboy hat - of course everything is cuter in the cowboy hat) - which I hope will help slim him up. Along with the gifts they also managed to get a little under the weather. Eli some Bronchitis and Noelie an ear infection, so I'm keeping the fingers crossed that this Christmas season will be a pleasant one for the remainder of it...

Pics from the Allen Christmas to come... don't ask me about the Noelie dance recital video unless you want to see me cry. Let's just say one of life's precious moments meant to be captured on film and was until technology has once again bit me in the bum.