A Very Nicholl Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Nicholl clan at Mom and Ron's house.  As has been the case the past two years, Nick Schale, a former colleague of Ron, came over to take our family pictures.  He did a great job, and was especially great with the kids, and we got a lot of great pictures.

I snapped a few pictures of my own, including cute little Benjamin and an excited Joshua exploring his new book.

We had a great home-cooked meal, and thanks to Mom and Ron's house size and layout, we were able to have everyone eat in one of two large groups.

We later did gifts, and Mom received a violin from Grandpa and Grandma.  She used to play when she was little, but even though she hasn't picked up a violin since then, she immediately nailed some scales as if she still regularly played.  I was quite impressed.  Later, Grandpa received some food items that were branded with a certain sponge who shares his first name.  Grandpa is not counted among the sponge's many fans, and thus he was not thrilled to receive the items.  The perpetrator of this scheme was not definitively determined, but Grandpa had his suspicions, as this scenario has played out without fail for many years now.  Grandma, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased by the whole scenario.

Later in the afternoon and at night some of us played games, including a game called Say Anything that was a nice twist on Apples to Apples, and another new game called Wits & Wagers, which I loved, as it involved knowledge, estimation, and betting.

It was another great Christmas, and it was great to have everyone together (Elle was there for the pictures but had to leave after that) for the celebration.