Our Christmas Eve Traditions

Although days and times have moved around over the years, Erik and I usually spend Christmas Eve with his Dad and family.  This year, the cast of characters included:

Dad - Big Rudy

Step-Mom - Annette

Sister - Lisa

Brother - Little Rudy

Brother's Girlfriend - Abby

Friend - Tom

The Corgis - DJ and Charlie

Various Kitties from Parts Unkown

All Decked Out for the Holidays

We didn't put up a tree this year, so I was looking forward to visiting their tree and  playing with my camera.This seemed like a good opportunity to bust out the star filter for my Rebel, and boy did I!  Have you ever seen so many stars?   How many stars is too many?  Seriously, tell me, because I have no idea!  This seems about right.  Hehe!

For dinner, Little Rudy made delicious BBQ steak, and Annette made a ton of seafood.  

Big Rudy loves brie cheese, so they always have a wheel on hand for holidays.  As a cheese connoisseur, the brie is a highlight for me.  That, and the spirited "eat rind on, or rind off," discussion that follows.  We "rind off" people tend to make a lot of gagging noises to support our point of view.


After dinner it was time for presents!!  Annette goes a little crazy shopping for everybody.  Erik and I go a little crazy too.  There were literally presents flying through the air, a shower of tissue and exclamations of delight as everyone opened their goodies.

Miss Wesley Surveys the Scene

Last year for Christmas, we got an introductory Flying Lesson for Miss Lisa as her "big gift".  She was completely surprised.  Shocked really.  She had no idea we were doing that, and she had really, really been wanting to take a flying lesson. 

This year, she gave us the most wonderful gift.  While she was flying, she took photos of Seattle from the air. She had this shot of the Space Needle and Seattle Center printed on a wood slab from Photobarn.com.  They do an AMAZING job.  The wood is top notch, just beautiful, and the photography is fantastic too.  We absolutely LOVE it!  :)

It was so good to see everybody all together again.  We had such a nice time visiting over dinner, and everyone was so generous with their gifts!  Thank you, Dad and Annette, for the theater tickets!  Thank you, Lisa, for the beautiful photo! 

-xo