Chistmas Time

It's New Year's Eve day and I'm trying to muster up the energy to write a Christmas post.  Tag caught something nasty over the last week and none of us has had a good night's sleep for the last 3 nights.  Last Sunday, Joann took him to visit the nursery at our church and he either caught his sickness there, or at our Spence family Christmas party later that night, as 10 kids under the age of 7 were all staying at the house for 48 hours.  I plan on hitting their parents straight in the face with a snowball if I can find out who the disease-spreading culprit is!

At the Spence Christmas party I was too busy being Tag's wingman to think about asking if anyone's kid was sick, and now I am regretting it.  You would think it sounds fun to be in a house with so many little ones, given the spirit of Christmas and all, but in this case I was extremely frustrated because I spent the entire time protecting Tag, who can barely walk, from being run over by his 9 older boy cousins, who were running like wild animals around the house.  Of course I wanted Tag to be around his cousins and to interact, but if I wasn't close by he was simply a speed bump to the older boys.

This desire for my son's safety found me often the only parent downstairs with all the kids while all the other Spence adults enjoyed themselves upstairs, seemingly oblivious to their own children's activities.  I hope my in-laws are appreciative of the hundreds of dollars of damage I saved them by being the only guard on duty during much of the 2 days!  By the end, I was ready for some peace and quiet.

Tag, playing hide-and-seek with his cousins.

We spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's house in Draper so that he and Babs could enjoy some Tag time.  Joann and I chuckled as it didn't feel much like Christmas over there, since there wasn't an ornament in sight.  Gotta love empty nesters. Grandpa gave Tag some fun gifts and we played some good games of Hearts, a Brinton family favorite.

Joann and I attended several white elephant parties during the season and we had some good laughs.  There were pictures taken, but I haven't seen them yet. Speaking of pictures, there were a few on my camera that were pretty fun.

Tag's older brother, Michael Roberts, who is a 9th grader.

Tag checking out the goods.

Joann teaching Tag the reaction he is supposed to have, even when it's a shirt.

Tag's favorite find.  A bendy straw. Can you blame him?

Teaching Tag the fine art of present opening.

The anticipation of the 2010 Spence gift exchange.

More anticipation...

Great shot of Tag's size compared to his cousins.

Aunt Liz with baby Anson, the newest Spence grandson.

Rare moment of Tag holding the light saber without a cousin ripping it from his grasp.

Teaching the young bucks a thing or two about poker.