I have to admit... it does seem a little weird that although all of us "Vanderveens" are from Calgary (minus the Brandses from VT) we all pack up and come all the way to Lethbridge to have Christmas in a hotel... but, its tradition, and we've been doing this for as long as I can remember.
Mark and I got here a day later than everyone else... I had to work Thursday night from 3:00pm-11:30pm and then again Friday morning from 5:00am-1:30pm. So we drove down as soon as I was done (needless to say I slept all the way here!!) Once we got here we went for dinner with my family and the Brandses to the Cheesecake Cafe and then a quick dip in the pool. (Where Mark took down both Kyle and Ryan at the same time!) Then Mark and I called it a night after falling asleep watching TV.
The inital plan was to open presents late tonight, but due to an unfortunate closing of the pool (someone decided to leave a nasty little Christmas present in the pool), we opened them this afternoon. Mark and I both got new sweaters and movie passes from Grandpa and Grandma. Then after all the cousins had opened their presents the adults did the gift exchange. Mark ended up bringing home the same gift he brought, a box of golf balls... and I got a new cake dish FULL of my mommy's Mars Squares. Yum Yum!! The most popular gift was probably the giganitc tool set Grandpa brought or the bottle of Baja Tango. The least popular gift definately had to be the man thongs my dad brought!!
After all the presents were unwrapped and the yummy snacks eaten, everyone sort of broke up for a while and did their own thing. Mom, Robyn, Rachel, Jamie and Kaitlyn went and saw Charlotte's Web... most of the guys had naps or watched TV... and Mark and I went to the Wooden Shoe (the Dutch Store) so I could load up on dropies! Now a bunch of the younger kids are back in the pool (which they loaded up with chemicals and re-opened) and the men are watching the Flames play San Jose.
We were having a hard time trying to find someone to watch Duke for us... so we ended up just taking him along. And he has been SO good!! He loves playing with all the kids, and our room is perfect for him!! He goes out onto the patio and watches all of the kids play in the pool. He even gets his own bed!!
Tomorrow morning we are going for the usual Christmas Brunch Buffet then packing up and going home. I will have to post pictures from the weekend when we get home.. as no one brought their computer cords for their camera, and Mark and I forgot our camera!!
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