Merry Christmas - part 2

I understand the sentiments I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Really, I do. But by mid-afternoon on Christmas Day, my dreams were turning in the opposite direction. We were three hours late getting to the Jaski celebration. That's about normal for us because usually we're traveling from the Cities. This year, it took us that long to clear our driveway, recover and then travel what should have been a 20 minute trip.

AJ and the other kids didn't seem to mind all the snow. Though their clothes were absolutely soaked by the time they came inside. Here he is with with Jake, who built a snowman that, from AJ's perspective, is bigger than life size.

Once inside, and after dinner was done, it was finally time to open gifts. It seemed like a cruel prank to the kids, but someone thought it would be a good idea for everyone to take turns unwrapping one present at a time. Oh, the agony of waiting!

The scene was chaos, as usual. This is the first year that Korey and Becky have hosted Christmas, and even though their living room is bigger than Gayle's, it still was packed with people and presents.

For AJ, the most exciting moment came when he unwrapped a gift whose tag said it was for him, from Brett Favre. "Mommy! Brett Favre gave me this!" AJ exclaimed, showing me his new sweatshirt. "He wants me to be on his team!"

There are plenty of little lies told to kids around Christmas. For AJ, right now, I think he'd be less disappointed to learn the truth about Santa Claus, than to find out the sweatshirt really came from Gayle.

As we were getting ready to leave, I suggested AJ give Gayle an extra hug, because she would make sure Brett knew just how much he liked the new sweatshirt.