A View of Christmas (Recently) Past

I'm not really a December holiday guy. Generally, the pre-holiday consumerism, greed of untrained children and the long lines to return the bounty the day after Christmas really just sort of suck. On the other hand, we have the return of the sun and, subsequently, longer days on the winter solstice. This is good. I also have the opportunity to spend some time with friends and family that we don't get to see as often as we should. So this is good, too.
Here are some highlights from this year's holidays with family:

1. The weekend before Christmas, Curt and I ventured to my sister's "cabin" (read huge ass house in the woods) near Lansing, IA. Her husband had been complaining about all the "Faith-Family-Friends" signage that my sister has collected and placed about the cabin. He said he wanted a sign of his own with all his favorite things. This is the result:

My sister's friend painted the sign. Take a look at the penis she painted. Curvy.
CENSORSHIP UPDATE: I had previously posted the full version of this picture, in which my brother-in-law is holding the sign and my sister is standing next to him making a bl*w j*b face. I discussed it with my sister, and although we both thought it was funny, we decided to take it down just in case one of her co-workers got a hold of it. She's a nun. Just kidding.

2. This is my sister with her two boys Tweedle-Dustin and Tweedle-Brandon. Their holiday tradition is fighting (literally) over their mother's chex mix- which is really unusually good. I think it is the cheese crackers she puts in there. Anyway, this year, they absconded with all of it on their way out. Bad piggys. Bad piggys.

3. Curt's clan all came over for Christmas day this year. How many people did we squeeze into our dining room? If you guessed 16, you're right. The rest of them sat in the lower level. Curt's clan is a great bunch. They all get along (a real bonus). The nieces and nephews are all reasonably well behaved. And, best of all, they are a lot of fun to hang out with.

4. Curt's clan still exchanges gifts. Lot's of gifts. There also is a fair amount of mischief in the gift giving. Here is niece Ashley with some thongs from her cousin. She made the mistake of telling her cousin she had to go commando one day because she didn't have any clean laundry. Wa la! A thoughtful Christmas present is born.

5. One of the more interesting family traditions are the two lingerie boxes that get passed around to unsuspecting victims. For about 25 years or more, there has been a Frederik's of Hollywood box that usually has a fun gift inside. After Curt's Dad died a few years back, a Victoria's secret box entered the rounds. The first year, it held a bubble pack of his dad's Viagra that the family found while cleaning out his condo. The next year, the bubble pack had one less pill in it. The following year, I got the box, with no Viagra but a pretty normal gift. So, when it came time to pass it on last year, I put some of my own personal lingerie in it and gave it to my sister in law Tammy. This year she passed it on to our niece Rachel with a few added adornments. Swanky. The kids called them granny panties. Nice.