i remember waking up at 3 in the morning and sneaking in to see what santa had left for me and my siblings. luckily my kids do not do the same. they woke up around 8, and of course couldn't wait to unwrap. parker had surprised me with a few gifts of his own. i was almost crying when i opened my kids silhouettes. he made them himself, with a little help from his mom and sil syd. my kids loved everything they got...even if most of it was from cvs. i am so grateful for coupons and for all the stuff i get free or almost free. it's saved lots of holidays! santa even left anthony a stocking at our house. the house was a wreck when we left. we couldn't shove boxes and wrappings in the fire fast enough.
we then headed into "town" for my dads famous christmas breakfast. i love polish sausage, burned. i. love. it. my dad drove up to canada a few months ago, and brought a little surprise home with him. when i was a little girl, we would drive to canada, straight. it's a 24 hour drive, and my dad would drive the entire 24 hours. sometimes we would stop, but i always remember being so excited to get there, we would just drive straight through. one of my favorite memories of grandma and grandpa gruningers was this little car they had. we would ride it for hours, and hours. over time it stopped running and needed a little face lift. and there was no better man to do just that. he put hours and hours; even up until christmas eve, into restoring this classic little car. and couldn't wait for the kids to see it and ride in it. although the car stays at grandma and grandpas, for now, my kids look forward to riding it while they are there. they love it! 
more presents. how cute are these little sports ball chairs with little foot rests. and we all got our own "healthy water" bottles, which we love. 
the 2009 mary engelbriet calendar. isn't christmas without the annual calendar from gg. 
my dad got my mom this reflections of christ picture. it's my favorite. mark mabry even wrote a personal message to my mom. she loves it.
and my mom got my dad, a huge angel picture. it was funny. they had them hung on different walls for each other, for a surprise. neither one saw the other. my mom hung hers first, at night, and then my dad hung his early in the morning on the opposite wall, so that when she turned the corner from her room she would see it.
later that night, after some major r&r, we headed to grandma cheryls for sally's chili. i really think this might be my favorite christmas tradition. i had 3 bowls. i love chili, and sally's always hits the spot on a cold christmas day. 
then it was home again, home again. super sleepy kids, and super exhausted parents. till next year! merry christmas!
