Despite being sad to be away from my parents, sisters, bro-in-laws and nieces and nephews for the first time EVER on Christmas, we did have a very nice time with our family out here on the West Coast.

Now, let me tell you something about my Aunt. She knows how to throw a party!! There were lots of people at her house- 20 adults and about 10 kids, and everyone had ample food and a gorgeous place setting.

Some photos:

Their tree

Their tree


My place setting. She bought these napkin holders from the local Girl Scouts. They are made out of three pieces of felt- what a simple yet cute design!
My placesetting

My placesetting


The roast!! It was so good you didn’t have to put any gravy on it (although there was gravy available). We saw this thing in the fridge last week before Christmas, and it was GIGANTIC.
the table

the table


Christmas Dogsters
Linus is sporting his Christmas sweater which we picked up for him in Park City when we drove cross country. Shamrock has on what I believe to be a a Christmas “scarf.” Sham-sham is a very silly dog; she is a “failed out” guide-dog for the blind, who was kicked out because she would always eat table scraps. Just recently she got ahold of and helped herself to an entire box of chocolates. Thankfully she was okay!
Christmas Woofers!

Christmas Woofers!


The youngest of our clan… Dane. He looooves dogs and gives Linus lots of hugs. Isn’t he cute in his sweater?
Dane!

Dane!

My lovely Aunt (father’s sister) and beautiful cousin-in-law Regan in the kitchen. Check out the two “vacuum cleaners” hiding in the shadows:

Regan and Aunt Mimi

Regan and Aunt Mimi


My Aunt’s grandkids are all boys (which is funny, because my father’s side is mostly girls!), yet nevertheless she has some very girl-y Christmas ornaments. I also spotted a few Barbie ornaments on her tree
dress

dress


James and Alex patiently await dinner… and later opening presents. Earl and I gave all of the kids marshmellow shooters, which was funny because they also got marshmellow shooters from their other aunt and uncle, so there were LOTS of marshmellow artillery around the house last night!
James and Alex

James and Alex


Trey helps himself to the mashed potatoes. I have never heard a child be sooo excited for mashed potatoes. He was raving about them before dinner, and I have to admit, they lived up to his high praise!
Mmm, mashed potatoes

Mmm, mashed potatoes


After dinner, we went to the movies with my cousin and his wife. We saw Frost/Nixon, which was very good! Even though it’s a historical documentary, so you know the outcome, it had me on the edge of my seat.

Here are some of the christmas lights in my Aunt and Uncle’s neighborhood. The people on their street went all out! This wasn’t even the “best” house, by far, but gives you an idea of some of the people’s yards. How refreshing to see that, even though we are in balmy Northern California and it is 60* and no snow, people still get into the holiday spirit:

Christmas light bonanza

Christmas light bonanza