Thursday, December 18, 2008

Smith Christmas

Last Saturday afternoon we celebrated Christmas with my family. Our traditions may differ a little from most families (shocking...I know...):

When we were smaller my parents decided that instead of a big, fancy dinner, that we would instead all go to the grocery store together and get to put ANYTHING into the cart that we wanted to eat on Christmas day. I remember asking them everytime we picked something out, "is this okay?" Yes was always the answer. We had candy, cookies, chips and dips galore. What I don't think my parents expected was for us to pick things like crabmeat, shrimp and other more expensive items. But, it all went in the cart and every year we went on this annual shopping trip.

Well, not much has changed - still tons of candy requests and still lots of shrimp. We've branched into a few more appetizer things and some other more solid food to get us through the day. My parents do most of the grocery shopping now, asking for requests a week in advance. Maddie and Jake went shopping with them a couple years ago and had such a good time getting to throw whatever they wanted in the cart.

Once we were all back in MN a new tradition began - we started taking a family picture before gift opening began. This year I was about ready to throttle Jake because he wouldn't smile for ONE picture. When I finished the pics and saw this I pulled him upstairs and railed into him for being rude about it. He said, "I just didn't feel like smiling." I wanted to say, "I hope Santa feels like bringing you a present Christmas Eve because right now HE DOESN'T!!" But I didn't.

So here are some pics from the day with the fam. Filled with good food, good games, and good memories:



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