Here, There and Everywhere!

Nate, Josiah & I felt a little of what Santa must feel like on Christmas Eve.  We weren't dashing through the snow or flying up in some great sleigh, however I am thinking it might have not been a bad way to get to every place we needed to be.  We went to FIVE places between Christmas Eve and Christmas evening.  All of our family is here in Portland and all within 40 minutes of us.  We have tried to do the every other holiday thing, however everyone tries to accommodate us and schedules times to "fit".  So, a traveling we will go.

Christmas Eve we spent with Nate's mom's side of the family, the extended Herboth clan.  This is our Christmas Eve tradition and has been for 8 years.  Our immediate family has nothing intimate planned so we go and start the gluttony with every possible food choice imaginable.  This year we decided to spend the night at my mom and her husband's house so we would be closer to where we needed to be at 9:00am on Christmas morning.  Once we arrived in Oregon City we decided that this would be the best time to have Josiah open the gifts from Nate & I.  We weren't planning on doing the whole Santa thing and he wasn't really aware of it anyways so it didn't really matter at this point.  Next year we may need to figure out a new plan.

Our Christmas Tree before we packed up.

Merry Christmas Nate & Josiah!

What do I do with this?

Unwrapping gifts from Mommy & Daddy

LOTS of Thomas the Train this Christmas!

Christmas morning was spent down at my dad's and my step-mother's home in Canby with my 4 siblings and all the cousins.  It was chaos!  Chaos as in 6 small children under the age of 5 grabbing and ripping open anything they could get their hands on.  I even caught Josiah opening the gift he had gotten for his Grandpa & Nana.  In Josiah's defense it was given to him by an older cousin.  Even in the midst of the chaos it was exactly what Christmas morning should be like.

Opening Grandpa & Nana's gift....LOL

Yo Gabba Gabba!

All 20 of us that were at my dad's headed up to my grandparent's to meet my aunt and uncle and their tribe (Them, plus their four kids, spouses and grandchildren) which equaled another 19.  There were a few others that met up there as well bringing the grand total to 43 people in a house that is maybe 900 sq. feet!  Once you were in the door you found a spot and didn't move.  Even though it may have been crowded, we've been doing this every Christmas morning since I was born.  It's gone from a family of 4 (my grandparents, my dad and my uncle) to a family of 43!  This the only tradition that I can think of that has been life-long.

Gobet Clan!

After our first two stops it was time to head back over to my mom's to nap Josiah and get ready for Christmas dinner.  This was a very relaxing time after a very busy morning.  While the kids were napping (only 3 toddlers) we all watched Four Chrismas'.  I love that movie!  We ate an amazing dinner and exchanged gifts.  Aside from my early Christmas present from Nate, my UGGS!!!, I got my most favorite gift....a Keurig coffee maker from my mama!  You all know I LOVE coffee!  The coffee selection is good and it tastes way better than drip coffee...almost as good as french press.

One instrument missing from Josiah's pint size collection.

Thanks Uncle Tim & Auntie Kim!

Woohoo!

We wrapped up there around 5:30-6:00ish and headed back to Portland to meet up with all of Nate's family.  Christmas dinner is the tradition with the Zimmer side.  We were stuffed from our earlier dinner, however I couldn't resist some of Grandma Zimmer's pistachio pudding!  Of course we had plenty of room for dessert!  It was nice to be at our last place before heading back home.

And off he goes!

We may have had the movie "Four Chrismas'" beat with our "Five Chrismas'", however we loved every place we were and are grateful to have so much family near.