Christmas

Told you I was behind!  Seems appropriate to write about Christmas at the half-way point to the next one.  I've had these pictures loaded to write about for several months, just haven't had the time to do it. So here we go!

Christmas Eve, after the kids went to bed and before Santa arrived. We decided to have our tree in the family room this year, now that the kids are getting bigger and we don't have to worry about them constantly touching it.

Santa left a note for K & T thanking them for the cookies, milk & carrots for the reindeer.

The kids slept until 8, and we got them dressed before they came downstairs.

Taking a look at everything.  The stocking were so heavy, Santa had to leave them on the ground.

Look at the excitement in her eyes!

This guy too.  He was ready to dig in.

Love this expression on the Mister.

The kids quickly picked a Santa present to open, T got the Lego plane he asked for.  He must have been good!

He was really happy about this and wanted to make it right away.

K had been asking, and asking for a puppy purse, and Santa must have heard her.

Dreams come true!  Now that a little opening had happened, we headed over to my parents' home for our traditional Christmas brunch.  It's always a good time, and so good to be together.

A look at the goodies.

Silly kid, licking his lips over strawberries right off the bat.

This girl really likes waffles with syrup, while T is a fruit and cream kinda guy.

My parents' mantle, with our stockings.  Santa always fills them with Aussie treats.  Yum!

Christmas selfie. Em, me and K.

S, T & K

Another Christmas selfie, this time with my sweetie.

You would think that this picture would be too embarrassing of my brother Andrew to put up, but he chooses these silly poses.  Plus, his kiddos are super cute.  We love S & baby J!

Teething much?

Pretty S.

My parents.  I am so blessed to call them mine.

See?  He does this on purpose.  But this time I have Shelley in here too. 

We start with the youngest when it comes to present opening, so baby J starts us off.

Then T gets to go.

K opened these fun letters that Nana made.  She plays with them all the time.

S is up next!

Happy girl.

Nana brought this back from her trip to Australia, she thought it might be too big, but it's just right.  Go Crows!

I like this picture and Nana with S.

Uncle Spencer gets a turn.

This guy really likes Legos, he's easy to please.

Wow, her very own jewelry box!  She has quite a collection, this was a perfect gift.

This year, all of my siblings and I went in a gift for my parents, a dinner & ride on a train.  We gave them clues for their present.  That smile on my Dad was worth it.  He loves trains!

T opened these handmade wooden blocks made for him by Papa.  We had a similar set when we were growing up.  They are a favorite for sure.

K was over the moon over this Playmobil horse park.  She has played, and played, and played with it.

He wanted to get to work right away.  He builds much more complicated buildings now.

This. Pirate. Ship. Is. A. Dream. Come. True.  He LOVES it.  Plays with it, or parts of it almost every single day.

Eric giving a Christmas smile.

I'm not sure what's with my brothers, but they insist on making crazy faces at me.  This is Spencer.

Nana made this beautiful sweater for S.  Man, is she talented.

Shelley makes the cutest books for Nana & Papa for Christmas.  S could read the whole thing to Nana this year.

We made a book of last summer's ABC activities for the grandparents this year.

One of my favorite gifts ever, this little girl.

These two are two peas in a pod.  They just get each other.

Cutest monster ever!

Aunt Joan brought N & A over in the afternoon, and we had another round of present opening.  

Here's A & S.

And N.

Aunt Joan wanted them to open these at the same time.  These were a fun gift.

Now K & S can be real mermaids with these blankets!

And T is being eaten by a shark!

Nana & Papa with their crew of grandkids.

On the way out, I snapped a quick selfie with my Dad.

Oh what fun it was to write about this day months later, it was neat to relive the day.  How blessed we are to live so close to our families, to be healthy, and to have the relationships that we do.  Merry Christmas!