2015 - December 25th - Christmas

Merry Christmas to All ....

Kendall was hired at the local movie theater a couple of weeks ago. Being a "new-be", she was scheduled to work 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM. That made our Christmas day different than in the past, but a very enjoyable day. We went over to Carrie & Ed's around 7:45 AM when Ruby woke up to see her unwrap her gifts from Santa and her parents. Joy filled the room! After gift opening, we were able to have a bite to eat and chat without having to hurry away.

Returning home, Larry finished getting the gifts under the tree and final preparations for everyone's arrival late this afternoon. Mary Anne busied herself in the kitchen with leisurely food prep. We enjoyed a few TV shows and recordings before having the Geese put in the oven and getting ready for everyone's arrival.

Upon arrival, we sat down at our festive holiday table for our Christmas meal. The geese were roasted to perfection, the ham was scrumptious and juicy, the potatoes were boiled, gravy readied, the green beans done, the Christmas dressing smelling great, traditional red-white-green ribbon salad made, and we had Mickey Mouse shaped sourdough bread as an added treat. We themed Christmas to Mickey and Disney this year from the table to the gifts. We even used the Mickey casserole dish for that extra touch. Shirley's sister Debbie and her son Taelor were again with us, so we had 15 for dinner.
              
               
Debbie, Shirley & Eric

Kendall, Ed, Carrie

Evan, Taelor, Ruby

Ethan and Jordan

Mikayla and Ella

The anxiousness to get to the gifts after dinner became apparent. We cleared most of the table and then all retreated to the family room Christmas Tree. Papaw told all of the Grandkids that they may have noticed that we were themed this year to Mickey Mouse ... from the bread to the individual cakes to the gifts under the tree. Another difference this year is that a PowerPoint would be seen before we got into the gifts. Anticipation was shown in all of their eyes. The tree had all of these Mickey Mouse red balloon looking containers under it, so there was a lot of curiosity going on.
              
Larry stated the PowerPoint with ....
When this slide came up, there was joy, but the grandkids not knowing why we were all watching this slide show!

But then this slide came up to puzzled looks by everyone. Grandma asked Kendall to read it out loud. When she did, it began to sink in to everyone. There were gasps, oohs and awes, really ... for reals? ... are you kidding me? .... is this a joke? Now after months of planning, it was all out in the open.

We continued so that they could see what all was included in this gift for the 13 of us ... with some surprises for the Dads and Moms too.

Grandma handed out the mock boarding passes that Papaw had made for everyone as we continued with the story.

                                         
                                          
We went through the Walt Disney World presentation on PowerPoint to many joyous faces. Evan and Ruby kept getting closer and closer to the TV and always jumping up to point to one of the pictures in the presentation. They didn't get bored at all! Grandma captured some of the expressions while Papaw was on the Surface tablet to TV presentation ....
               
               
               
               
At the end of the WDW portion, everyone got their Mickey balloon holder that had their customized Walt Disney World family tee shirt in it. The tags were either Mickey or Minnie with their names imbedded.
                
Going to week two of the June Christmas Vacation, we presented the Cruise on the Disney ship, The Dream. They got to see their balcony rooms, the foods, the activities, the special sections for each age group and more. We will also have a full day on Disney's personally owned island, Castaway Cay and on the next day to go into Nassau in the Bahamas if so desired. Plenty to do and see on this cruise. We then gave them their family Cruise tee shirts in Disney Mickey, Donald & Goofy pails with Cruise Tickets as the tags.
               
               
               

Both shirts were designed specifically for the family. On the front of each is a personalized Mickey, Minnie, or Captain Mickey (for the cruise shirts) with the individual name. We think that they came out terrific!

Both families received a Mickey Head thumb drive with the Power Point Presentation to take home. Also included were some documents for reservations at both WDW and the Cruise, Character Phone Your Kid contact info, helpful links (what to bring on a Disney Cruise, how to decorate your stateroom door), clip art, WDW food plans, cruise ship Pirate night and more.
               
                
                          
Everyone was thrilled, sort of unbelieving, and ecstatic about this vacation ... even if 6 months away! Hopefully the PowerPoint link will work at the end of this blog entry so that anyone who is interested can pull it up and view, getting the same presentation as everyone did here on Christmas.

The stocking stuffers followed in the same Disney theme. Everyone received a Disney hand sanitizer (figuring they would come in hady on this two week vacation!).
I also made double sided luggage tags for each person's luggage ...
Because everyone knows that it rains daily in Florida and at Walt Disney World, we picked up rain ponchos for everyone's stockings too. The Disneyland crew looked at us strangely when we asked if they had them ... with questioning "Is it raining?" as they looked out of their shops. Had to laugh!
                   
Everyone's ornament this year was a Disney one to wrap up our "themed" Christmas!

The only thing left now was the individual Christmas cakes that have become a holiday tradition. Note that each one has either a Mickey on a Minnie on it this year. We also baked and decorated Mickey Mouse Gingerbread Cookies to complete the theme.

         
         
         
         
And this Christmas will continue for another six months plus! See all of the pictures in the complete photo album link by clicking here. And here's hoping that the following PowerPoint link works too at https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=3E3CB56ED50AA41F!3351&authkey=!APPYshSrfTT-CZ0&ithint=file%2cpptx