Christmas 2008

Christmas in Salina...

Well there a lot of things in my hometown that you can't find anywhere else; Mom's Cafe, Blackhawk Arena, Grandma's porch.

But every once in a while you run across this... a three legged Christmas greeting. This little friend first greeted Jenni and I on the way to Grandma's house and was there the entire weekend before Christmas. We were quite impressed with this goat's jolly demeanor, despite only having three legs and spending all of his life outside. This is definitely something you can only find in Salina.

Here's something a bit more substantial. Check out this meal. Every Christmas my mom goes all out... and I mean it. This meal included Prime Rib for twenty people... with all the fixings. But before we got our amazing piece of meat, we enjoyed shrimp cocktail, etc. Props have to go out to my mom. She knows how to throw a dinner party!

Speaking of my mom... she may have been proud of the prime rib. But her only granddaughter is her pride and joy. We all love Allie Jayne. She is the newest edition to our family... and just recently celebrated her first birthday. But here I think her thoughts were all turned to my mother's dinner. I imagine these two were having some type of debate about whether the toddler could forgo the mashed peas and carrots... and go straight to the cow.

Well, Grandma won. No prime rib for Allie this year. As you can see she wasn't too happy. But big brother, McCoy, was there to comfort her or maybe he was just rubbing it in. McCoy did get to partake of the great meal.

Oh, here's the happy trio. It was sure a lot of fun to be around my siblings. We hadn't seen Nolan and Janica for a while and Melissa... well... we can never get enough.

Jenni fits right in.

This was probably one of the best moments during the entire weekend. All of us tried to win over Allie with our gifts, but Grandma won. When Allie opened up Eeyore she got so excited. She literally engulfed him and began rocking back and forth. Words can't describe how excited she got. Jenni and I both agree, we've never known a baby like Allie.

My brother Trevor, "The Starving College Student." We had so much fun with him that weekend. He was just glad to have the big meal... and he was happy he and McCoy weren't the only "kids" at the Kiddie Table this year. Jenni and I joined him. It was very fun.

And I just had to include a picture of me with Grandma. She was so great to let us stay at her home three times during the holidays. We truly love being with her and grandpa. They are like second parents to me and have taken in Jenni so well.

Overall, Christmas in Salina was wonderful. We love being with family and are so grateful to be so close. It's always a party with the Poulsons!