Christmas 2011

In a flash Christmas is over.  We muster through all of the preparation, stress, and excitement for something that comes and goes in the blink of an eye.  But would we trade it for anything, especially Christmas morning when the kids see that Santa has indeed deposited gifts under the tree?  No. 

Before we cover all of the Christmas photos, let’s back up a bit.  Grandma Y and Aunt Ashley spent the holiday with us.

Look familiar?  The kids and Mocha were anxiously awaiting their arrival just as they had for Grandpa Y the week before (minus Abby who had been sleeping that particular day).

One night we went to dinner at Buffalo Wings and Rings.  While this is an adorable picture of Abby doing her scrunchy face, it isn’t the point of this particular story.

This story is about Gavin who was aching to play the ‘claw’ game.  Ever since Toy Story he begs to play these games.  The first and only time he played several weeks ago he didn’t win.  He was devastated. 

But this night, he didn’t just win once…

…he won twice!  Talk about shocking!  With the help of Grandma, Gavin managed to get two toys out of the “claw” machine. 

The next day was Christmas Eve. 

Shiny Armor had taken his place at the top of the tree for his last day with us before heading back to the North Pole until next year. 

The kids were dressed for the children’s service at church.

During service, Gavin and Abby made their way up front to hear the special children’s message.  Abby wandered away a few times but Gavin kept her in line as best as he could.  When that failed a kind gentleman up front redirected her forward.  And no, she would not give up the snack.

Everyone looked beautiful in their Christmas Eve dress.

After a delicious dinner we set out the cookies, milk, carrots, and note to Santa.

We read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, as is Christmas tradition.

The kids went to bed, the elves did some work, and before we knew it, Christmas morning was here.

Gavin was thrilled!

While Abby was excited, she was also still groggy.  I had to work at 6:45am so we had the kids up just before 5am to open presents. 

Gav and Abby started on their stockings.  It was a slow process with the little princess.  She was not awake enough to do anything quickly. 

Not to mention, when Abby would get things out of her stocking she didn’t want to put them downShe would struggle to open gifts while still holding on to the things she’d already opened. 

Gavin was eager to get through all of his presents.  He was so excited! 

This particular toy has barely left his hands the last couple days.  He’s having so much fun playing games.  The great thing is he doesn’t even realize he’s actually learning things from the games. 

Abby finally woke up a bit and got more into the present opening action.

Grandma helped Abby with some more of her gifts.

Here we are standing in the aftermath!

While I was at work all of the toys came out of their packaging and the kids had a busy day of play.  Ashley, Brandon, and Grandma got the turkey cooking and prepared for Christmas dinner.

Grammy, Poppy, Aunt Julianne, and Uncle Jay came over to join us for dinner.

Gav and Abby recouped after their early morning gift opening enough to get excited for another round!

Gavin and Abby with Grammy and Poppy in front of the tree.

It was a busy and memorable day.  The kids have plenty of things to keep them busy for quite some time. 

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Best wishes from all of us for the new year!

Holiday Happenings

We’ve had some holiday happenings going on at our house.  Wednesday Grandpa Y arrived to spend a few days with us. 

Gavin skipped his nap and waited anxiously at the door for Grandpa to arrive. 

After Grandpa got to our house and Abby woke from her nap we had a little pre-Christmas celebration.  Gavin could not contain himself. 

What a great picture! 

Once Abby got the hang of opening gifts she didn’t want to slow down either.

Everyone received awesome gifts from Grandpa!  Abby has been particularly attached to her baby doll and stroller.  Gavin has had a blast with his soldiers, police set, and dinosaurs.  We’ve all had fun playing Kinect on the Xbox 360.

Thursday Brandon had to work for 16 hours.  We took Grandpa and met Grammy at the conservatory.  There was a Chuck Jones exhibit with animations from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  Local people made “gingerbread” houses of scenes or characters from his animations. 

This particular piece of art reminds me of my children right now.  They are bouncing off the walls and making me even nuttier than I normally am. 

Abby could not be separated from her baby and bottle.

Gav and Grandpa in the desert.

The hit of the conservatory was the train.  It was the first thing to get Abby to put down her baby and get out of her stroller.  Gavin’s stance always reminds me of Pop.

The train track goes around the bottom of this large music box castle.  The entire thing has little scenes from fairytales around it. 

The large poinsettia tree in the main lobby made a great backdrop for a few photos. 

Friday Gavin had his preschool Christmas party.  Abby spent the hour at the mall with Grammy and Poppy. 

The first order of business was crafts.  Gavin made an angel to go with the shoebox nativity they made a couple weeks ago. 

It was a group effort.

The second craft was a candy cane ornament. 

Gav was so cute working on his projects.

Next the kids put on a play.  Gavin was a shepherd again this year. 

Here he is keeping watch over his flock.

And now he is afraid of the angel who has appeared.

The shepherds made their way to see baby Jesus.

The kids were adorable in their costumes.

After the play the kids sang some Christmas songs.  Gavin was very excited about Jingle Bells and wanted to start before the rest of the class.

The kids handed out their presents to their parents.  He did such a great job on his gift!  We love it!

The teachers gave the kids each a gift as well. 

The class took a final class picture and then our party came to an end.  We were so proud of Gavin and his participation in the play and singing as well as the awesome job he did on our gift and his crafts.

Friday we took the kids to the mall to visit Santa.  Thankfully the line wasn’t long.  Gavin has never had a problem visiting Santa.

Abby on the other hand, does have a problem visiting Santa.  Last year I think she was too young to care but this year she wanted nothing to do with the jolly fellow. 

As you can tell, we’ve had a busy few days!  We’re trucking right on through to our next round of visitors and the holidays.  Hope everyone is enjoying their own holiday celebrations!