Christmas Dinner with the Oviatt Families

December 23rd, 2007

On December 23rd we headed over to my Uncle Gary and Aunt Kelly's house for the Oviatt Christmas gathering. We are very lucky to live this close to my Dad's side of the family. We look forward to a family gathering each year with them during the holidays. We have a nice dinner, play games, talk and sometimes watch a movie. We exchange gifts as well. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the food, but we were so hungry that we just ate instead! The picture above was taken after the meal, while we were all sitting around talking at the table. From left to right are Emily, my Aunt Carri, my Uncle Wane and my Grandma Oviatt. (Uncle Wane is my Dad's brother, Carri is Wane's wife, you know Emily, and Grandma is my Dad's mother).

Here's a picture of my Aunt Kelly and my Uncle Gary. They were also taking part in the conversation. Uncle Gary is my Dad's youngest brother and Aunt Kelly is Gary's wife. They are always excited to get the group together, and we usually congregate at their home for these occasions. (Momma's in the background on the couch).

Brian and I decided to sit on the couch for a while and relax and let the food digest. Don't ask me where that bow came from. I think Brian was trying to tell me he was the only present I needed this year. (That's the truth! He is such a great husband and friend!)

My cousin Madison finally got Brian to move seats and talked him into drawing a picture for her. Brian often has this requested of him when we get together with our cousins. I find it very entertaining. They are always so interested in how he draws, and very grateful for the finished product. I think it stresses Brian out a little because he wants it to be a great picture, but "you can't rush art" as he says. I think he always does a great job! (P.S. I'm pretty sure Madison was pulling that face at me, and not at Brian's drawing!)

Poopa decided to break away from the adult crowd for a little while to play with the kids. Vaughn took immediate interest in rolling a ball back and forth between him and Poopa. It was SO CUTE to see both of them on the floor playing together! Poopa is always great to take time to play with Vaughn.

Here's me and Laura taking our routine picture of us together. And of course, you know what that leads to....making weird faces as shown below!

Here's my "I just ate a huge dinner and I'm so full I feel like I could and should blow chunks" face. You like?

And of course, I had to do "The Face" as is tradition with Oviatt girls. I think this is a major improvement from my regular face. Do you think if I did it enough that it would stick? (Sidenote: It's funny how I can't find any of the faces Laura made. I wonder who may have erased them?!?!?)

Poopa saw us pulling "The Face" and naturally had to join in. There was only one problem....he can't do "The Face!" He's never been able to do it, and it is the funniest thing to watch him try desperately to copy it! Above is a picture of one of his attempts. WE LOVE YOU POOPA!

After dinner and talking and faces, we headed over to Grandma Oviatt's new house. We went over to see the new place and spend some time with Grandma. We also exchanged gifts with her. Here's Grandma opening a nice book Momma and Poopa got for her.

Poopa and Laura were standing by watching Grandma, and I thought they had the cutest expressions on their faces! And by the way, whenever we open presents with Poopa around, he has to stick a bow to himself. I love it!

Momma and Poopa also gave Grandma a nutcracker. We had never seen one shaped like this before, so it was a fun gift for Grandma.

Brian and I gave Grandma a sort of house-warming gift with homemade soaps and bath bubbles and stuff like that. My next-door neighbor and very good friend Dawn Houston made the homemade soaps and they smelled so good! Grandma loves to relax in a warm bath, and she got a new jetted tub, so it was a perfect gift for her! We were really glad she liked it.

After Grandma was finished opening her gifts, she brought out presents for the grandkids and great-grandkids. She gave us her famous date bread and peanut brittle, which happened to disappear within a few days! YUM! Vaughn was very excited to open his present, although he still took his time to enjoy every bit of the wrapping, especially the bows and ribbons!

Vaughn finally got the wrapping paper off, and found a Doodle Pro waiting for him! We had actually talked about getting him one just a few days before, so this was a perfect gift! These are so great because kids can draw on them without a mess and then erase the board and start over. This also came with some neat shapes to use. Vaughn loved it!

The other kids loved it too. Here's Autumn and Vaughn drawing together. You can't really see Prairie, but she was also trying to get in on the action. She is just to the side of Autumn with a bow in her hair.

I had to put in this shot of Prairie. She found a candy cane and was desperately trying to get it open. It was SO CUTE! And by the way, I think a little bit of Poopa rubbed off on her because she had a bow in her hair. SHE IS SO ADORABLE!!!

We really had a great time visiting with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandma. We love you all and hope to see you all again very soon!

And here's one for the road...

(I had to show this one more time. Poopa, you're such a GEEK! Don't ever change!)

Love, Lisa