A Merry Christmas!

So much fun was had at Grandma and Grandpa's house this Christmas. We started off with our second annual Christmas Eve Day cookie decorating.  I (Evan) made sure there was LOTS of frosting and decorations on Santa's gingerbread man.

Nathan promptly ate his first cookie prior to decorating it.  Then he decorated several cookies.  Then he tasted the frosting.  Yum!  It was all over after that!

Christmas Eve pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa and a new book from Mom and Dad.  I didn't like the book.  In it (The Polar Express), the little boy gets on the train without his mommy.  I wasn't interested in reading it after that.  In fact, before bed, I told Mom that she could keep the book for the rest of her life.

Christmas morning!  What's in here?

Construction equipment!

Trying out Elsa's new skateboard.

Having a quiet moment with Grandpa.

Reading my new book with Dad.

Figuring out the slinky with Uncle Joe and Elsa.  These were great!  Mom probably should have gotten a couple more for back-ups.

It was nice to have Great Grandma R. with us.  Perhaps we will dedicate a future blog post to the making of this picture.  It required two cameras and many, many attempts!

(The following picture was taken on the 26th.  We do not wear jeans on Christmas.) 
The most special gifts are gifts of love.  Grandma and Grandpa worked on these gifts for Mom and Aunt Katy this fall.  Using his woodworking skills, Grandpa made cutting boards, trivets, and coasters.  Grandma made aprons and pot holders, and she learned how to knit so she could make dish cloths.  Furthermore, Mom's apron was started by Great Grandma W. several years ago before she passed away.  Grandma finished it and used the pattern for Aunt Katy's.  Everything was beautiful and very special, indeed.

We even relaxed with pre-breakfast hot tubbing on the 26th.  We were all in the hot tub before 8:00 AM!

We hope that you and your families enjoyed the holiday as much as we did!  Have a happy New Year!

We had so much fun visiting with friends tonight. Abby and Kate selflessly shared all of their toys while our moms caught up. We missed Owen, Henry, and Charlie (and our moms really missed Dani) and we hope Henry is feeling better for our next playdate.

We got to sit by ourselves for dinner.

Abby and Kate have really fun dress-up clothes.

Our patriotic butterfly.

We had a pajama party after dinner.  Abby "read" a story to us.  What a nice hostess!

Mom says we are going to do this more often because it refreshes her soul.  Personally, I'm not sure how the chaos of five kids running around (eight next time) is refreshing, but she's convinced that it's all a matter of the company you're in.  It also makes us eager for another MTB!  So we're looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Ho! Ho! Ho!  Santa rode through our neighborhood on a firetruck tonight! As you can see, Nathan and I were more interested in looking at the ladder truck than looking at the camera.

Oh Christmas Tree!

We picked out our Christmas tree today. Picking out a tree seemed to be a low priority for us. There were stumps to play on, mud to find, goats to pet...

... and dirt to play in.  (At this point, Mom and Dad gave up and left us here--in sight of course--while they searched for our tree.)

Here is our decorated tree, perfect for a nice picture.  But oh, the silliness!  We had lots of fun running around the living room then stopping quickly to do something silly for a picture for Mom--over and over again.

I'm laughing so hard I can't stop!

This is as good as it gets.  But didn't Daddy say, "This is life in our house" earlier this month?!

Animal Encounters

We went to the zoo with Owen, Henry, and Charlie today. It was cold, but we've found that winter days bring the best animal encounters.

We were even approached by this peacock in the parking lot before we went home!  He got within about two inches of Nathan's cheese. 

Not bad for a picture by our amateur photographer, Evan.

Family Picture

Wouldn't this be a great Christmas picture?  Everyone is looking at the camera; everyone is smiling; everyone looks genuinely happy to be together.  If only it looked like it were taken at the beginning of December (it was) rather than on October 31!  But, as Daddy says, "This is life in our house."  So don't be surprised if you open up our Christmas card and out pops our costume-Christmas family picture!