Christmastime 2009

So, Jaime and I have been slacking a little bit with the blogging. I have been asked to tackle "Christmastime" for the Robinson's.

I'm lucky enough that my work makes me take the last 2 weeks of the year off (mandatory shutdown). It can be a bit of a pain having to save vacation days but I have always enjoyed the extended time to be with the fam. This year our Christmastime was full of school programs, a trip to Disneyland followed by the actual Holiday itself. I'll cover the first and last items while Jaim will cover the D-Land trip.

OK, Christmas programs. Harris and Liv both had programs this year. Harris attends Learning Dynamics Preschool while Liv is in the 3rd grade at Saratoga Shores. Harris was so cute in his little holiday outfit and had a "speaking part" this year in his program.

Here is the vid of his big performance:



Toward the end he really started to do a good job and get into it:

So, it is interesting to note that both of my kids seem to rub the sides of their mouths when they get nervous. Liv didn't like being in front of the crowds at this age either but Harris seems slightly more at ease (only slightly though :))

This is a pic of his "nervous" face:

Olivia threatened us with our lives this year if we showed up at her program, so naturally we made sure to be there...

Olivia does better in front of crowds since starting karate but still gets nervous. She is especially wary of being "embarrassed". I can tell you as a father that I want nothing more than to constantly be at any and all her performances to embarrass the heck out of her!

Anyway, she did a great job as well. Here is the vid:



This is a pic (a little blurry but you get the idea) of me making sure to say hi to her and give her a big hug in front of her classmates.

So, that was the Programs. They happened on 12/18 (my last day of work for the year), on 12/19 we took a family trip to Disneyland. It was way cool, Disneyland during Christmas is neat. It is also waaaayy busy, but oh well. We also had the chance to spend a wonderful evening with my Papa Jay and Grandma Cheryl. They were such wonderful hosts and Cheryl is an amazing cook. We were lucky enough for my Aunts Leahna and Lauren to be there as well as my Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa, Lorraine and Henry. We had a great time. We returned late in the evening of 12/24 and that is where my blogging picks up.

Christmas Eve was a lot less crazy than is usually is (and more crazy in some ways). We flew home from LAX and arrived just after 8PM. After getting our luggage and driving home we got home around 9:30PM and the kids were asleep by 10. Not too bad. We made sure to finish most of our Christmas Eve preparations before we left on 12/19 so we didn't have a ton to do. Usually, Jaime and I spend 5 hours or so watching "A Christmas Story" with our good friend Ralphie but this year we only watched it for a couple and went to bed at a decent hour.

Christmas Day was neat as it usually is. Jaime was back on her game this year for gift giving and did an amazing job (I took a lot of heat last year for saying that she was having an off year, yikes!) She really did do a great job, for me as well as for everyone else.

We told Liv that she couldn't wake us up before 7AM. She came down at 7:03...

We told her she could be awake but that she couldn't wake Harris. Harris didn't wake up until 8 (and that was only after I opened his blinds and turned off the white noise :))

Anyway, here is the customary vid of the kids coming down the stairs to the toy wonderland:



After our morning festivities that also featured Jaime's yearly Breakfast Casserole (Yum!) we went over to my parents house and exchanged gifts with them and then went to dinner at the Wakefield's. Jann made an amazing Prime Rib and we also exchanged gifts. Here are a couple pics:
Present opening, Liv is making a funny face.

Trevor, Cami and Liv make up the "Bigs" and Harris, Ryan and Aubry make up the "Littles". This is a pic of the Bigs.

So, Christmas is always awesome and this year was no exception. We were able to kick it off with a beautiful visit to Temple Square to set the spiritual tone of the season and have really been able to keep that tone and enjoy some meaningful time together as a family. I hope you all (who am I addressing here?) had a great Christmastime as well and enjoy a Happy New Year!

Cheers.