Christmas travels

We spent Christmas in St. Louis with Jeff's family this year. It's a HUGE event for them. They haven't quite figured out that all the kids are grown up now, and that none of us really care about presents anymore. Oh well. Jeff and I registered at Crate and Barrel for Christmas this year, which worked out brilliantly. We received very few weird and unwanted gifts because of it. I really hate it when people waste money on stuff they think we'll like, but we don't need. I'd rather get nothing.

We waited until Sunday afternoon after church to make the 6+ hour drive (there was a blizzard on Saturday, and we wanted to make sure the roads were clear before we left) and arrived later that evening. The next day, Christmas Eve, was spent on a trip to a local shop to pick up some wine that they were holding for us, and a visit to the pet store so Jeff's mom could pick up some treats for her grandpuppies (which she proceeded to give to them in copious amounts for the next 3 days, so much for their diet). Then it was off to dinner at an Italian (make that St. Louis Italian, there's a BIG difference) restaurant with Jeff's mom's side of the family, which included Grandma A, Aunt, Uncle, two cousins and a wife of cousin, and the four of us. Grandma's elderly neighbors also joined us for dinner. Then we proceeded back to Grandma's house to open presents for a couple of hours. It was a long night, but all went rather well.

On Christmas morning, we opened a few presents with Jeff's parents, had the traditional orange flavored cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then got dressed to await the next round of visits, which came in the form of Jeff's dad's side of the family - Grandma J and Aunt. More presents were opened, and then we started to prepare lunch, for which the aforementioned mom's side of the family arrived. Jeff's parents picked up some bacon wrapped filets that Jeff grilled for the main course (yum!) and mom and aunt and I made a plethora of side dishes to go alongside it. Everything finally wound down in the late afternoon and the relatives all left. We watched a movie and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

The next day, Jeff and I went to visit and clean out our wine storage locker in St. Louis - it was like Christmas all over again for us. We can't ship wine to Kansas, and prices here are much higher than elsewhere in the country, so we order some over the internet and have it held for us in St. Louis. It was fun to go through all the bottles and see the tasty stuff we'll have to drink in another 10 or 20 years when it's properly aged. Weird hobby, isn't it? After visiting the locker, we moved on to Grandma J's house for a visit with her and the aunt. We helped install some little lights in Grandma's closets, and chatted for a while, then it was back to Jeff's parents' house, where we got ready for a night out. We took them to a new restaurant called Araka as part of our Christmas gift to them. It was pretty good, and the interior of the restaurant was really cool.

The next day we started to head back home. We stopped in Kansas City overnight for a visit with my Grandma F and my aunt and uncle. We haven't been able to visit with anyone there for more than an hour at a time here and there over the past few years, so it was nice to be able to stay and chat with them for a longer visit. In the morning, we hooked up with a couple of good friends from college, Mary and Luis, who were also in town for the holidays. We had lunch with them, and puttered around Crate and Barrel for a while afterwards. It was a nice way to end the trip. We got back on the road in the middle of the afternoon and made it home in time for dinner.

We managed to not take any pictures during the whole time, but Jeff's aunt got a few and sent some our way. So, here's a few, to prove we actually did attend the Christmas extravaganza this year!