Christmas 2011-1

There is a strange force working against me! It's definitely not "the force", ya know, from Star Wars...otherwise, if it was, I'd have had this blog post done long ago! It keeps erasing on me! Always after I load all the pics and write captions for them.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!!! (Name that movie) The winner will receive a virtual pat on the back.
Anyway....Happy New Year and all that jazz! I was very happy to have my parents home for the holidays. While on their mission, they only had to miss one Christmas!
So last year, on Christmas night, we, meaning just my little family of 4, we started a new tradition...by accident!
Don't ya love when that happens??
Is it a tradition if you've only done it once, but want to do it annually but can't do it the second year because of what day Christmas fell on?
Allow me to explain if you will.
Last year we were supposed to go visit some family that live on the other side of town, but Chase was a bit under the weather, and we just didn't think it kosher to go over to their house since we don't go there often, so we decided to instead, give Chase his nightly "sleep medicine" which is the only thing that turns off his autistic brain and allows him to slumber but for a while, and go to the drive in theater because Papa John's pizza and the Drive-in was about the only thing open on Christmas night besides the casino's and that wasn't where I wanted to spend Christmas...crazy?
So we swung by Papa Johns, felt bad that they had to work...yet glad they were, and drove to the drive in with our pizza, and smuggled microwave popcorn and root beer.
It was so fun! So we decided to do it every year on Christmas night.
I had the movie all picked out for this year, we were gonna see the new Matt Damon movie "We bought a Zoo'. (i have yet to see it dag nammit...maybe tomorrow)
Then, the inevitable happened, i learned that Christmas was on a Sunday. dun dun duuuuuuuun.
Don't get me wrong! I love the Sabbath Day and look forward to it always! But since we're "one of those, ya know, Mormons" we wouldn't be buying pizza and or going to the movies on Sunday. So Christmas night this year was spent as a nice quiet, healthy, leftover eating, day of playing with new Christmas gifts and napping.
On Christmas Eve, we spent it at Eric's mami and papi's house with the missionaries and my parents and Eric's grandmama. We were fancy that night with french potato (served cold) soup. Loved it!

Then, the day after Christmas, we had a wild party (wild in the Mormon community such as lots of soda drinking, playing of the Wii, white elephant gift exchanging that included a pair of Flash Gordon underpants,
and singing Happy B-day to me mum. If asked, she's 52 and holding... She's been "holding" for a while so she's just decided to start going backwards now :)
This Christmas was fun because Chase, for the first time, was 1.) interested in why there were presents under the tree, and 2.) when he could open them.

Christmas Eve PJ's

Cool hats made by their Aunt

Eric and I were sitting at the kitchen table a couple of days before Christmas and Chase is standing next to the Christmas tree and says "open it" and we asked him "open what?" and he responded with " presents!" We LOVED that he answered our question first of all, and that he showed interest! He's never been concerned with any of it! So for the first year, he actually opened his gifts, and enjoyed them. I didn't get a very good pic of him opening gifts. I snapped a few when he was still trying to wake up, so he's got his "I literally was just dragged outta bed by my sister and am still trying to wake up" blank stare but still opening his stocking gifts, so it counts!

(Allie loving her new orange nail polish)

 He was waking up a little more by this time, and within a few more minutes, he was gladly opening his presents on his own and fully awake!

Ready for church!!! Yes, they really did attend Sac Mtg like this :)
Gotta love Christmas on a Sunday

One of the prizes at the fam partay...that's my handsome hubs

 Even Chase trying the glasses out, but not understanding the eyeballs are supposed to swing to and fro..