Kelly really got into the whole playful spirit of Christmas this year (along with mommy!) - the lights, decorations, giving (and receiving!) presents, cards, shopping, singing carols, spotting Santa, baking, parties, dressing up, the whole sha-bang!
A few days before Christmas we gathered at the Oldhams in Encinitas - Matt, Lynn, Lucas, Conner, Grand-dad and all of Lynn's family were there.
We ate, drank, opened presents and sang Christmas carols - it was loads of fun! Kelly was right at home with her cousins. She and Conner definitely have a special kinship though...
He even got her to play dress-up, BOY style!
The Monday before Christmas, I came down with a wicked 24-hour stomach flu, which put me back a day in terms of preparations. But we managed to still somehow get it all done!We enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve dinner and gathering at our house with Tim, Susan, Shawn, Grand-dad and the boys.
But right after everyone arrived, Gary turned 3 shades of green and was down for the count with the same stomach flu as I had a few days prior! He was in bed all night and well into Christmas day. So I got up at the crack of dawn to, well um, make sure Santa had come, and was ready for Kelly when she woke up and came running out to see the tree filled with gifts, especially the big Dora Scooter right in front with the big bow!
We had a nice quiet morning opening gifts together, then I took us all over to Chelsea & Frank's house (the boys' older sister), where we spent Christmas morning (Gary was still in bed at home recovering!). Again, Kelly had a blast opening presents, playing with Kainoa, having a big family breakfast and taking a nice walk with everyone down to the beach and back.
My side of the family was supposed to come down Christmas Day, but due to the rampid sickness in our house, they decided to delay their visit by one day, which turned out to be a good thing for us too. I got a break that evening to re-group and clean-up, and also for Gary to get fully well again! Besides, the weather was terribly rainy & stormy and our power went out for about 3 hours. I felt bad thinking of all the families that were still trying to cook Christmas dinner! It was kind of neat though having only candlelight and no other noises (like TV, radio etc) - very peaceful... as Christmas night should be :-)So Friday, Nana, Papa, Gee-Gee-Vee (Verna), and cousin Gina came over for a scrumptious Day-After-Christmas dinner and we got to do it all over again! (Uncle Johnny was working over the holidays at the ski resort in Mammoth - we missed him so much!)
By this time, Kelly had become a pro at present opening and seemed to genuinely love & appreciate each and every one - I was very proud of her enthusiasm and polite showing of gratitude!
A few days later, Kelly & I went up to Nana & Papa's for a visit. We drove around looking at lights, in particular, a house in their neighborhood that had over 10,000 lights and was sychronized to music and video - crazy, amazing stuff! 
We also went to visit Great Grandma Babcock (Gee-gee-bee) and Kelly dusted off her organ and gave it a work-out!
Kelly stayed with Nana & Papa for New Year's while Gary & I got a night out together for a change! We started the evening in our garage playing pool and listening to some tunes, then walked down to a couple of our local Leucadian haunts to ring in the New Year!
I can honestly say this was one of the best Christmas/holiday seasons ever! Surrounded by family, love, and laughter - very special holiday memories for us all! I hope we can continue these traditions for years to come and that Kelly will feel the same way :-) 
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