Christmas Celebrations!

Well, the hectic (yet fun) schedule of celebrating Christmas with family is over and we even have 3 days of vacation to follow it. I hope everyone had a great Christmas with their families. With Connor almost 4 and Brady at 2 1/2, Christmas this year was nothing short of magical for us. They were very excited for Santa to come visit our house with the daily song being "Santa Claus is Coming to town". Their eyes were constantly filled with wonder, joy, and excitement.

On December 23rd, we always spend our evening with Papa Terry, Gma Donna, and Aunt Julie (except for the year she was living in Canada) so our Christmas celebrations started on Tuesday. Papa Terry always prepares a feast for such a small crowd and has never disappointed. The boys were very excited that Papa remembered that they wanted the Geotrax Grand Central Station. Papa was the one that introduced them to Geotrax with a starter kit for Connor's 1st Birthday and they have been adding to it ever since. We ended the evening with Aunt Julie reading the boys their new books before we headed home. It was REALLY late, but the boys insisted on staying up late to assemble the train.

On Christmas Eve, Daddy unfortunately had to work until 2, so mommy and the boys hung out all day. They were really good until late afternoon...naps were needed badly (from staying up late the night before) but my boys DO NOT nap. Thank goodness, that evening, Mimi, Papa, and Aunt Julie came over to our house. Of course, the boys were the entertainment for the entire evening. In addition to Geotrax set for Connor and Pat Pat Rocket for Brady, Mimi got the boys another cool gift - Wowwee Alive Lion and Tiger Cubs. They are so real...but without the mess!

On Christmas Day, the boys woke up before us and played in each other's rooms. They aren't quite to the point where they run into the living room and see all the presents that Santa brought and then are eager to tear into it at the risk of the parents still being half-asleep. Instead, we got another year of sleeping in and taking our time. After Christmas at our house, we went to the Lynn house for the mayhem of 6 grandkids, 5 siblings/spouses, and my parents opening presents at warp speed. You give up pretty quickly on seeing what anyone else has opened and just focus on your own stack! The rest of the afternoon was leisurely - naps (for the adults), watching Ice Age 2, figuring out new homes for all the new toys and lets not forget the constant grazing of the food buffet.

Brady thinking "Are we done now?"