Christmas Cheer

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday! The McLarty Farm was full of fun, food, and flying presents all day. We were confined to the indoors all day because of a HUGE thunderstorm that roared through the state. It came by us around noon...with a tornado warning and lots of high wind advisories. Thankfully, we did not have any twisters touch down in the yard...they did touch down (and destroy) a few of the trailer parks up the road...we've decided that the wind must swirl a bit different in mobile-home-parks because they seem to be some sort of magnet for destructive weather.
We opened presents in the morning. Then Dad and Dustin made a yummy blueberry and pecan waffle breakfast for the family. After some more present opening we put some of the new games and gifts to use. I tested out my new snow skiing helmet (THANKS DAD) which fits perfectly. Along with just trying it on my head...I hooked up my iPod Shuffle and had music playing through the built-in headphones:) I challenged everyone in the family to play a cool new board-game from my Aunt...it's called Yali and it's like Chinese Checkers with a balancing act thrown in.
My Aunt and Grandma loved their future gift from me...on January 6th we are going to all drive to Downtown Disney for an early lunch and the Wolfgang Puck restaurant followed by the 6pm Cirque de Solei show!! I went to this show a few years ago with my immediate family...but their shows are so amazing that it will still be like my first time!! Although my mom hasn't tried on her new surfing wetsuit...it looks like it will fit perfect and she can't wait to test it in the surf. Dustin is excited to actually be able to cook and bake in his house in Gainesville...I outfitted his kitchen with almost every imaginable cooking utensil needed. Dad will slowly be getting his Christmas gift over the next 5 months with a monthly delivery from a "Beer of the Month Club" from microbreweries all over the country. I snuck a 6 pack of Colorado Springs brewed beer home for an abbreviated 'month' before he departs the country.
After a long day inside the house, no thanks to the weather, we headed to our new neighbor (my Grandmother who is living in the house in our front yard) for Christmas Dinner. She served a lovely spread of food followed by more presents. Sitting in her living/dining room after dinner and watching 6 people opening gifts...you can figure out all 30+ odd charities that she donates money to during the year. In response to her donations, the charities send silly gifts, which my Grandmother wraps up and gives to us at Christmas!
My 23rd Christmas ended with one last mad dash through the rain back to our house to curl up in front of the TV with my family and watch a movie (albeit a very bad Aniston/Vaughn movie) while consuming a bag of Christmas chocolate and falling asleep. Nothing more perfect to end a fun-filled-family day. Merry Christmas Everyone:)