The matching cousins in their gray sweaters!

Grandma & Grandpa with Riley & Mara

Me and my mom with our little fireman photobomber

Our family of 5. There are a ton of pictures of us all together here over the years. It's sad to think this may be the last one at Christmas here.

 My dad with Aunt Grace, my Grandma's sister. It was really nice that she was able to join us to celebrate. 

Gift opening time for all the little ones! When I was a kid the gift opening took hours. My grandma would split up the gifts between the younger kids and the older kids. Pat, Tim & Ryan made a million trips up and down the stairs to help Grandma bring every last gift down from upstairs. My parent's car would be so loaded with toys that there were times they had to make 2 trips. Grandma loved to spoil us. 

Will & John got kitchen accessories for their play kitchen, including chef's hats, a toaster and a coffee maker. 

Will also got Gone Fishin' - I'm not sure who had more fun playing it, Will or Uncle Terry!

The teenagers were so excited to be there! Ha!

I was too young to remember this Christmas that my Grandma bought the boys light up, noise making fire hats. Ryan remembered and ordered some for the boys. We ended up taking 2 home with us and throughout the night numerous people were wearing the hat's at Grandma's house. 

 I don't know about you, but I think Lori totally pulls this look off.

My aunt Sharon always remember to bring a cake on Christmas Eve so that everyone can sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It's really sweet and our boys are just about old enough to finally start understanding the true reason for the season.

We did a white elephant exchange with the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. To say it was hilarious is an understatement. I had a pair of Star Wars socks in my possession that my mom stole right out from under me! Erik came home with a huge green & white blanket that he loves. The ladybug tic tac toe (which appeared strangely as a gift for Ryan many, many years ago) resurfaced. Lori scored it as a baby gift for Megan, who couldn't be there because she just had a baby in Colorado the week before. Excuses, excuses :)

My Aunt Sharon wrapped up some very special ornaments that my grandma always had on her Christmas tree. She numbered the bags and let all of the cousins and their kids choose one to take home with them. I find it pretty awesome that both of my boys ended up with Angel ornaments from Grandma Lorraine. A sure sign she's watching over them every day and a really special remembrance of an extraordinary woman.

Here's my golden Christmas tree from Grandma hanging next to an ornament from my beautiful, sweet cousin Maggie. She copied and printed a message from one of her birthday cards that says "Love, Grandma Lorraine" and put it into an ornament for each of the cousins as a special memory of her for our trees. To say I cried when I received it would be an understatement. 

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas celebration with *almost* the whole family one last time. Thanks for all the great memories over these last 36 years.