Hiatt Christmas Party 2010

Our annual Hiatt Family Christmas Party (with Linc's dad's side of the family) was yesterday. 

I love that this party is the same every year:

#1- Eat homemade soup (clam chowder, yum!)

#2- A pinata for the kids

#3- Grandpa reads the story of Christ's birth

#4- The kids act out the nativity story

#5- A visit from Santa with a wrapped gift for each of the kids

It felt so nice to just sit back & relax for a few hours at the party. I love the Hiatt family. They make me feel so included. I always have to remind myself who are Lincoln's actual cousins, aunts & uncles and who married into the family, because everyone is treated the same. I think that is a rare thing & I am so thankful to have married into that kind of a family! I think it says a lot about what good, kind, loving people they all are! 

After the soup & pinata, it was time for everyone to gather in the front room for the nativity story. The room is always packed...the Hiatt family is seriously huge. Kylee hadn't gotten a nap that day, so she wasn't wanting to do much except sit on my lap. After the nativity, Santa came. As I said earlier, Kylee is really scared of Santa. This year we stayed across the room from him, but she still didn't appreciate him being there. 

You can see the worried look on her face as she watches Santa talk to the other kids...

We didn't make Kylee sit on Santa's lap when he called her name. Lincoln just got Kylee's gift from Santa & gave it to her.

Unwrapping her gift...

It's EEYORE!!! Kylee loved her gift & immediately gave Eeyore a big hug. Kylee already has 3 stuffed animals that she sleeps with every night (Hello Kitty, Pooh Bear & a teddy bear) so Eeyore makes #4!

It started getting pretty hot in the room & Kylee gets flushed really easily. Her poor cheeks turned bright red. We had to undress her so that she could cool off. During the party she found some babies to hug. She loves giving every baby/kid she sees hugs, but has a hard time letting go of them. :)

Kylee has been really into draping things over her head the past few days. She walked around with her shirt wrapped around her head for awhile at the party. Silly girl.

The Hiatt Christmas Party was once again a success! You'd better believe that we are coming back to the U.S. each year to celebrate the holidays with our families. We would miss out on way too much if we didn't!