Brad, Amanda, Dallas, Aunty Gail
Doug, Tyler, Uncle BB, Eddy, Naoko, Aunty Laura
Brad & Aunty Glenna
Rachelle & Eddy
Heather & Eddy
Tommy & Mitch
On Christmas day we always go to Dallas’s Aunty Gail’s house out in Mount Prospect, IL. Every year Aunty Gail makes beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole and her mom’s lettuce/mayo/crab/pea salad. It never varies. Dessert varies because other people always bring different desserts, but Aunty Gail always makes her signature cookies. This year Naoko made a super light and airy cheesecake (usually it’s so dense and filling!), a chocolate cake and cream puffs. Naoko’s desserts are always fabulous, but Dallas and I both commented together about how great the cream puffs were. The custard was so delicious. Heather and I each brought candy trays. Mine should look familiar, since I’ve been featuring all the candy recipes here last week.
Christmas Dinner
Christmas Desserts
Kenji
Kate & Tommy
Kate, Ben, Tommy, Derek
This year there were relatively few (only 18!) people over for dinner. I think it’s the first year that we could all sit at the long table. The first year that I didn’t sit at a kiddie side table! After dinner, many other family members came over and we had the gift exchange. Every year Aunty Gail tells you a thousand times, “$10 gift bag, no junk, no junk!” Ok. Well, what can you really get for $10 that is not junk? This year she finally increased the limit to “$20 gift bag, no junk, no junk.” To be honest, I think I was already spending $15 on the gift bags anyway. And actually, the price increase helped a lot. There were many good gifts, and no junk, Aunty Gail, no junk.
Back: Uncle Neil, Uncle Peggy, Miko, John, Derek. Front: Winnie, Ben, Kyle, Kate.
Uncle BB, Aunty Glenna, Brad, Amanda, Tyler, Aly, Adam
Back: Jeff, Heather, Aunty Gail, Eddy, Doug, Naoko. Front: Chris, Mitch, Kenji, Tommy.
Back: Eddy, Mitch, Tyler, Chris, Derek, Ben. Front: Kenji, Kate, Tommy.
Eddy, Mitch, Tyler, Chris, Derek, Ben, Kate, Tommy, Kenji
Marty, Uncle Sonny, Brian
Siblings: Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Gail, Uncle Neil
Siblings: Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Gail, Uncle Neil
Uncle Sonny, Aunty Laura, Uncle BB, Aunty Glenna, Aunty Gail, Aunty Peggy, Uncle Neil
Rachelle, Aunty Laura, Dallas
Brad, Aly, Dallas
Trying to get all the cousins in one shot.
May be more difficult than the kids!
Someone with Heather’s camera got this good shot I snagged. Back: Marty, Winnie, Kyle, Brian, John, Doug, Dallas, Amanda, Brad, Heather, Jeff. Front: Naoko, Miko, Aly, Rachelle.
This year all of the golfers were fighting over a package that they thought were a pair of golf gloves. Dallas ended up with it in the end and guess what? It was a Coach key chain. Score for me! When it was Winnie’s turn to pick a gift she let one of the kids pick and they picked a very large box, which is not ideal because she lives in California and would have to travel home. So when it was my turn to pick I took her big box. It ended up being an amaryllis bulb, which I’ve always wanted to try growing, so score again for me! There were a few boxes and tiny gift bags that people thought were going to be bags of rice. Usually Aunty Gail will put a few pieces of rice in a Ziploc and wrap it and then the gift is 20 pounds of rice. Dallas always wants this gift because it’s something he can actually use. Most of the small, light gifts this year turned out to be gift cards. Aunty Gail’s gift was actually a Shake Weight that Aunty Glenna got. I don’t know how there are no photos of her, or the many people who tried it out, but it was hilarious, as you can imagine.
Aly & Eddy
Gift Exchange
Eddy playing with the Potty Putter.
As always, amazing to see how the family is growing every year. And great to visit with everyone!
Previous Christmases at Aunty Gail’s:
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