December 25, 2001

It's Christmas with the Battjers!

See, the thing about everyone in my family is that when any of sees something that want, we pretty much buy it right then and there...so picking out Christmas presents for each other is always really difficult because everyone pretty much has everything they want (except my mom, who never wants anything and thinks everything is too extravagant or expensive...typical Xmas request from my mom: "Well I'm almost out of soap. Maybe you could get me soap for Christmas?")

Needless to say, Xmas morning is a big joke around my house...we've usually long since given our presents to each other, but yet every year we still wake up early and gather around the tree as a family to exchange our dinky presents.

dad, mom — Mom holds her amazing gift of two envelopes.

dad — Dad actually has a gift to open from Brett & I! We wrote him a two page epic poem upon his retirement and we had them framed for his new home-office wall.

brett — My brother only had one present under the tree (from our mom) and it turned out to be a book on how to lose weight. He got all offended and started saying things like "Merry Christmas, Son...You're Fat!" In this pic he's just read the title and you can see his face starting to just turn sour.

Here's me getting ready to open my one present (from mom).

...which turned out to be this hot-ass, electric-Mermaid toothbrush. (Mom's Xmas message to her sons: Brett needs to lose weight. Brian needs to brush his teeth. hehe.)

dad — Dad, who's become Martha Stewart since retiring, carves up the holiday bird at my Aunt Elaine & Uncle Wayne's house.

chad — My well-scrubbed cousin Chad with his lady friend Erin.

zoe — Zoe the dog was there to bite some feets.

emily, rachael, wes — After getting back from visiting with Grandma & co, Rachael and I headed up to Pat's Bar (the only bar open in my town on all holidays) to meet Emily and her boyfriend Wes.

emily — Emily models her new holiday clothes from the Walter & Carol collection.

emily, me, rachael, wes — Em, Ray, Wes and me rePraZent Pat's in style, yo.