One of the final touches on our pile of gifts this year was a pair of crocodile mittens for each of the cousins whose names were drawn by our kids. (At the in-laws’, the adults exchange names, and so do the kids.) The larger pair were for Sister #1’s daughter, and as you can see, she’s old enough not to try to eat googly eyes. The other pair were for Camden, the next-to-youngest cousin.

Before we headed for the in-laws’, however, we had our immediate family gift exchange and various church adventures. Pete still directs a choir at the Catholic church he used to attend, and he was scheduled to do music for the Christmas Eve mass. I decided to sing with the choir at my former church, too. We had tofurky for our mid-day meal, and as soon as the sun set, we piled into the car to go see the lights. (Foxxi included.)

My parents, Brother #2 and his wife drove up last Sunday for holiday festivities, as my parents are visiting Brother #1 in Seattle this week. My mom left a small package for each of us to open on Christmas day. Imagine our surprise when we all received …. underwear. Not just any underwear, either. Mine were white cotton granny panties, a size too large. Moon had the same, but with snazzy multicolored patterns. Peter’s were adult men’s briefs, which I’m sure would have come up to his armpits. Pete’s were two sizes too big (and not his preferred brand).

So basically, my mom gave us the gift of laughter for the holidays. And that’s cool. (Plus, we were able to return the errant undies.)

Our other presents were pretty awesome, though. The kids and Pete gave me a sewing machine and a JBL OnStage for my iPod. Now we can hear my tunes all through the house! We gave Moon a video iPod with 60GB memory. I downloaded all her music into it and bought a few music videos for her from the Apple Store. I think she was surprised. Peter got a PSP, and I’m sure he had it all figured out in advance.

Later, when the 20 of us gathered in my in-laws’ living room for gift exchange, Camden showed us that he knew exactly what to do with his new mittens: dominate them!

Pete, Sister #1 and Sister #4 went outside with some of the kids later and built a snowman. Peter hauled his cousins around on a sled and thoroughly enjoyed himself. I put my feet up and watched them all out the window with Moon by my side. It was lovely.

And it was all over so fast. In a few days, 2005 will be but a memory. Merry Christmas!