Christmas 2008

We had an A W E S O M E Christmas! I was especially thankful for the time we got with our nieces and nephews, getting to know them better. They change and grow so quickly and when we only see them once a year, we can really see the changes. Our oldest is 25 and our youngest is six, so we have quite the age range, but that never matters when we play games or have good old family time.

There are a lot of things that go into making the Kinkel family Christmas so special , but here are a few of my favorites...

1. Sled Cam - this HAS to be the BEST thing about Christmas. Our entire family looks forward to sled cam every year. Sled cam is when we all go out to the sledding hill (that's right - everyone participates, even the "big kids"!). We make a human train, everyone piling on the sleds and tubes that we have, hooking together with arms and legs. The person in the front of the train (usually my nephew Darin) rides backwards with a video camera, videoing us as we go down the hill. The point of sled cam is to try to all make it, train in tack and all, all the way to the bottom of the hill, which is very hard to do. It's actually pretty brutal, we usually end up with a couple injuries, and the best part is watching the movies when we get back home, especially all the big crashes in slow motion! These videos are so hilarious. In fact, we usually take a good hour or two over Christmas break to watch all the old sled cam videos from years ago. It is so much fun! I was not able to participate on the hill this year, because of obvious reasons(!), but I really enjoyed watching the videos they made and laughing at all of them as they complained of their soreness and injuries all week long!
2. Mom's Christmas cookies - my mom always makes the BEST Christmas cookies! This year Erik was eating some of her frosted sugar cookies and said, "Why do I like these so much? Is it the cookie or the frosting that I like?" I have always wondered the same thing! Why are they so addicting?!!!
3. Christmas Eve (opening presents) - we always open presents from the family on Christmas Eve. I love how we go in order from youngest to oldest. No body seems to be in a hurry to open and we all watch everyone else open up the gifts, taking turns until everyone is out of presents. It's so fun to see what everyone else gets.
4. Christmas Day game night - on Christmas Day night when everyone is finished with their own family Christmases, we have always had my cousins and aunts and uncles over to play games. This is usually a very competitive night, always consisting of some sort of boys vs. girls game and it seems like I never want it to end. This year the Wii was a big hit, along with Balderdash, Cranium, Hand and Foot, and Catchphrase.
5. Punch - on Christmas Day my mom has always made punch in her big crystal punch bowl. This was the only day of the year that I ever got punch when I was a kid, and we still have it on Christmas! It's soooo yummy and goes great with all of the Christmas cookies.

It seems like each Holiday just keeps getting more fun and more fun with Maida. She really enjoyed opening presents this year and being with the family. I wish I could have had a video camera on 24/7 to capture her true spirit over the holidays. It was a very magical time. Erik and I look forward to many more years of Christmas with our children.

Here are the pictures from the week: http://scharrerfamily.shutterfly.com/
And here's a video of Maida looking for her presents from Santa on Christmas morning: