Gerber Family Christmas Party 207

Wow! Talk about tradition. Saturday, December 15th more than 50 family members came together for the annual Christmas party. This is a tradition dating back 62 years! I am amazed at the Gerber's ability to keep the family close. The Gerber party is literally an ALL-DAY occassion. Check out the highlights.

8:00 am: Fausnahicklies (I think that is how you spell it.) To celebrate the Gerber swiss heriatage, we made a yummy scone-like pancake named "Fausnahicklies." Its basically dough, fried and covered in sugar - yummy :) All the grandkids gather around the table to make the dough as thin as possible - you can even see the BIG holes that we make trying to make the dough even thinner. Every familie gets a full plate to take home - and Ty and I got our very own plate since we are a new branch of the Gerber family :)

This is Tyson's litle hand when he was a little boy! So cute.

The end result of all of our hard work in the morning - yummy

10:00 am: Honks Dollar Store
A tradition that started when all the Gerber kids where young, Grandpa Gerber takes EVERYONE to Honks Dollar. Now we cannot forget the "Red Carpet Treatment" that everyone gets with Grandma and Granpa and so every year they literally have a red carpet that everyone walks one to make everyone feel special. This family really knows how to make you feel good.

Everyone lines up and anxiously awaits as Grandpa gives everyone exactly $1.12 (Dang inflation!) Afterwhich we are free to go through-out the store and pick whatever we want! Grandpa sits in front of the store and waits to see what everyone buys. Every year people come up with the funniest things to buy! This year I was practical and got a foodwand - so I can spread melted butter on my rolls. After 45 minutes of goofying off, we are back to Grandpas house to do a show-and-tell.

11:00 am: Gerber Football Game

You guessed it; the boys go outside and hurt themselves, while the girls stay inside, cheer for the boys and catch up. It's an awesome time to catch up and for me, to literaly get to know all the new women that are part of Ty's family. Everyone is so weet and excited to hear about what is new in our neck of the woods. We had an influx of newlywed couples and everyone is waiting to hear baby feet!

12 noon: After a morning of activities, sugary treats and dollar store shopping sprees, we all sat down and ate an awesome meal. We had honey glazed ham, funeral potatoes, salad and my very own Jello Salad (Grandma Gerber helped me make it extra yummy. Thanks Grandma.)

1:00 pm: Gift Exchange

After a great meal, the entire family sits down for the funnniest "$1 Max" gift exchange! We had the most creative presents. I got a matt that says "ho ho ho" and the book "In Love and War." Ty got a complete Indiana Jones outfit! Gun and All! We have a great time as a family.

This year Grandpa Gerber gave us the advice to be very careful with our money and to make sure we avoid debt at all cost. Ty and I are so grateful for the legacy that his grandparents have left. We feel a deep obligation to bring honor to the Gerber name.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love you.