Our flight to Calgary/Edmonton was very delayed, but we did arrive on December 25th, 2008. The tree was up and decorated and a zillion packages were beneath it.

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Stockings were opened after dinner when Skyler arrived, ever so excited!

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DSIL got juggling balls.

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What did Sarah get? FUDGE!

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Grandfather is VERY slow opening gifts.

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Skyler got oranges, iced tea (a fave) and Kraft Dinner, among other things.

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Of course Indy receive many gifts too.

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Now this part is for Chelone especially, in response to imagination comments. Skyler has a friend who is very bright yet who was thought to be autistic for a long time. He is 10 years old. He is very verbal and can really push Skyler's buttons! He has his idiosyncrasies, one of which is that when opening gifts, he is only interested in tearing the paper into minute pieces, ignoring the gift entirely. He has a whole ritual for opening them too.

This particular evening he was fascinated by wrapping paper tubes and collected duct tape, string, scissors etc...to create something while the family opened the stockings. He asked DH to assist:

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It turned out to be this gun with telescopic siting and crosshairs! He is unable to read, but certainly has skills.

DSIL read another chapter of The Wild Children.

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It was a long day for some of us.

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On Christmas Eve we each open one gift. This was on the 27th for us this year. DSIL spent the day "wrapping" in his unique style. :).

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Skyler was pretty much a teen in training during the day, with his new iPod. (There are spot checks on volume!)

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The adorable Amanda spent time with us and brought over gifts.

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And then, he crashed in Nana's arms.

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