Christmas in Illinois

We spent a fairly quiet Christmas Eve with the Wang family.  Tommy's parents, Sue and Eugene and his sister Yvonne (in from California) came over in the afternoon.  Eugene is a great cook, having owned and operated a Chinese restaurant for many years.  He cooked us a feast for dinner.  And of course there were lots of presents for Jonas to open up.

Jonas giving lots of hugs to Grandma Sue (nainai).

And of course more hugs for Aunt Yvonne.

And a big smile for Grandpa Eugene (yeye).

There is nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning and being able to watch a very, very excited child open presents.  Around 7 a.m. Jonas was awake and calling to his mother, "Mommy I'm awake."  We quickly got up and dressed and were waiting by the Christmas tree.  Some how this little guy had so much patience, because mom didn't hear him and didn't get up until 8 a.m.  But once up, wow, it was like a whirlwind!!  The joy and excitement was so refreshing to see.

Jonas must have been a very good boy since there were so many presents under the tree.

We then made our way to Homewood to have Christmas with the Gold family. The first Wang family picture with the newest member of the family. (Tommy, Jonas, Julie and Tia)

Jen was able to drive back from South Dakota to spend the holidays with Zack.

Of course everyone had to have a chance at holding the baby.

We also were able to see Doug (Cyndy's husband) and Fred's sister Patricia, both in from California.

 Fred's sisters did a great job making a wonderful meal.  Gayle is taking a break to get her time holding Tia.

 And we were also able to see Fred's stepson Brian, his wife Chris and our oldest grandson Freddie.

The family is past the Christmas gift exchange amongst each other, but we have a good time with a $15 grab bag exchange.  However, somehow we both ended up with wine stuff; wine glass charms, and an electric cork remover.

Fred senior got to play Santa's Elf!!  Never a dull moment at their house.

Our last stop for the night was a visit at Jen's future in laws, Jeff and Margo Witkowsky.  It had been over a year since we had seen them so it was a nice visit.  I was also extra happy to see Zack's dog Wrecker and Jen's Cora Belle!!!