Christmas Visit 2022 (part 2): Dec 25

Sunday, December 25, 2023
Sunday morning at 8:30am, the two grandmas can be found inflating the Christmas Ring Toss game. Alex was the first to enjoy playing the game but at one point just about everybody had a turn. 

Alex loves opening presents. What is inside is secondary to him. He started out the tradition with a tile puzzle and a blue M&M shirt. After a few gifts, he got bored and left the room for others to carry on. But he would be back!

Isaiah and Autumn dove into the books they got : Monsterverse Titanthology and Diana Princess of the Amazons

Then it was time for the dads and granddads to open a few gifts. Jeremy seemed to be enjoying just watching everyone else. He was delighted with the gift set of ten hot sauces that Autumn picked out for him during our shopping trip. Robin was a bit dismayed at the prospect of getting it home and fitting it in the pantry already bulging at the seams with various hot spices, a particular delight of Jeremy.

Frank began to open his gifts seated among images of his hero, The Grinch, on the quilt and adjacent statue. Note Frank proudly wears a shirt made for him by Robin. He is also wearing another use for the ring toss rings. A zombie fan himself, Isaiah wanted Grandpa to share in his enthusiasm with a gift of Zombie Kittens. 

A special daughter-to-mother gift, Robin bought me this adorable purse from Etsy with a Small World Disney theme. I love all the detailing with the smiling clock face in the lower right and the zipper pulls front and top that also echo that sun clock face motif. I like that the embossed "quilting" in the gold leather-like portion has the whimsy of the Micky Mouse icon and the elegance of swirls. Initially I thought this purse would be too small to be practical but I use it daily on short trips and errands. It fits my cell phone, small flat wallet, a couple credit cards, a pair of glasses and car keys. What more do I need? It has really saved my aching shoulders fro lugging around a huge handbag. And so stylish, too!

Autumn opened up a gift of a bright blue T-shirt with Pokémon characters atop a heart of colorful paint drips. I tried to figure out if these were a collection of many species of Pokéman characters or many rainbow colored images of Eevee, a favorite Pikachu of Autumn's. The former is true. There are over 150 species of Pokémon characters. From several Wikipedia, Fandom, and McGill University sources I learned about the Pokéman Franchise. A grandma after all, has to have bit of knowledge in this area; to be truly versed is nigh impossible. All Pikachu are Pokémon, but not all Pokémon are Pikachu.

• The name "Pokémon" is a syllabic abbreviation of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters. The term "Pokémon", in addition to referring to the Pokémon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the many fictional species that have made appearances in Pokémon media.
• Pikachu are small, and cute mouse-like Pokémon. They are almost completely covered by yellow fur. They have long yellow ears that are tipped with black. A Pikachu's back has two brown stripes, and its large tail is notable for being shaped like a lightning bolt, yet its brown tip is almost always forgotten.
• The name Pikachu is a portmanteau of the words, pika, an onomatopoeia in the Japanese language for a spark or a sparkle of lightning, and chuu, a Japanese onomatopoeia for the squeak made by a mouse.

My gift from Autumn was a necklace of my birthstone, an emerald, on a chain. I was pleased she remembered my birthday is in May and what the birthstone for that month was. Isiah insisted on get me a pair of pink slippers, which I have worn just about every day since Christmas. They are the perfect degree of firmness that proves to be exceedingly comfortable.

Those were the gifts from the Oklahoma crew. Now on to the presents for the Oklahoma crew from Frank and me. We had not placed them under the tree – remember, the tree had not yet been decorated – but rather stacked them on top of the hutch. They were a somewhat of a surprise sitting out in the open since some thought they were decorations only. They excitement built as the kiddos got to take turns on the ladder getting the gifts down and placing them under the tree. It was a bucket brigade.

Isaiah was very happy with his air-powered hover soccer ball. He really got into that sport this year and now he can kick it around inside the house during off season.

There was a pair of packages I wrapped identically and instructed Isaiah and Autumn to open them at the same time. I enclosed a photo in each explaining why I thought these particular, rather plain, back and white sweatshirts were so cool. The Amazon picture suckered me in to this purchase. Autumn modeled hers and it does indeed seem like she has a hole through her body. I have yet to see Isaiah in his, side by side with his sister.

Frank gave me a set of four bone china mugs I'd been admiring with travel vehicles in red, my favorite color, and a muted gray snowy scene of buildings in the background. One of my gifts to him was a vibrating back massager which was a huge hit with the kids.

Robin got gifts to support her growing sewing hobby: a pattern she admired for a paper pieced wall hanging, complete with all the required foundation papers, and a tool for cutting circles of various diameters.

I sewed Anna a pair of Christmas pillowcases out of a funky party ladies Christmas print. More details and closeups can by found in my DianeLoves2Quilt blog post dated 12/27/22. Frank and I also gave her a photo print from when we first met her and her husband John in December 2010 before Jeremy and Robin's May 2011 wedding. It was particularly touching for her since John had passed away only a few years ago.

Alex kept wandering in and out of the living room during gift opening. He took his job of wrapping paper disposal very seriously. Each piece had to be torn into smaller pieces and stuffed assiduously into a collection box.

Alex's final gift was an iPad loaded with his favorite music and Disney TV show Adventures in Wonderland.

To finish off the activities we made sure to photograph and acknowledge all the outfits Robin had sewn for us and herself. There was a train theme for me, Alex, Frank, and Isaiah and a manger scene for Robin.