Our Christmas celebrating began on Christmas Eve Eve. Chris, Donna, their kids and us went over to my mom's for our Christmas Eve dinner of homemade soup (3 kinds......don't worry, all made by my mother) in bread bowls. It was delicious as usual. Then after dinner we were paid a little visit by Santa Clause himself. He handed out gifts to all the grand kids of new pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve. I was very curious to see how Aubrey and Carson would react this year to Santa coming over. Although they both love the idea of him and seeing pictures and decorations of Santa, neither of them have been too excited to get near him this year.
My darling children in front of Grandma's tree...
Checking out the pile of presents before dinner...
Santa made his appearance, and as you can see, Aubrey is terrified!
She got to watch a couple of her cousins sit on Santa's lap first, and she REALLY wanted the present, so she did go sit on his lap for a few seconds....although I don't think she looked at him once....
"I got my present, can I please go now?"
Carson also really wanted the present and so was a good sport and sat on Santa's lap for at least 5 or 6 seconds......
YEAH......new pajamas!!
Aubrey with two of her favorite cousins, Callie and Colbie....
On Christmas Eve, we started the day by making gingerbread houses. It was really fun. Brian and I got a little competitive with our houses (mine of course turned out better) and the kids glued on a few pieces of candy with their frosting and then ate entirely too much candy, cookies, and frosting.
That night we had dinner at my mom's with Scott, Jenn, and cousin Brooklyn. My mom and Randy have started the tradition of ordering tamales to eat on Christmas Eve. They were really good this year! We then drove around and looked at some Christmas lights until our kids were bored (about 15 minutes).
When we got home the kids sprinkled "reindeer dust" on the lawn so that Santa's reindeer would make sure to find our house....
Then came in for some hot chocolate...
They were SO excited to open the last door on our calendar....
On Christmas Eve the kids get to open their present from each other. We started this last year and I really like it because then their little gifts to each other don't get lost in the shuffle on Christmas day. It was really fun to watch them get so excited about the gift they got and the gift they gave...
Setting out our cookies for Santa....
Carson realizing he doesn't get to eat the cookies for Santa...
Taken sometime after Santa's visit...
It's finally here.....Christmas morning!! We had told Aubrey that she couldn't come into our room until her clock started with a 7. What's funny is Brian and I were up by 6:00 just waiting for her to come in! So when she finally came in at 7:01, we were all ready to go wake up Carson and head out.....however, Aubrey informed us that Santa did come because she already saw what he brought.....the little sneak!
Christmas morning...
All the presents were a big hit! It took us about 3 hours to get them all opened. We did 3 "rounds" of present opening: Santa's gifts, gifts from mom and dad, and gifts sent from out of town.......with a break for breakfast of our yummy pecan cinnamon ring. The kids then disappeared into their worlds of playing........Aubrey went into her room and closed the door to have some "alone playtime" with her new dollhouse and Barbies and Carson just went from toy to toy to toy like a crazy person. I love kids and Christmas!
After lunch we headed over to my mom's to continue our Christmas celebrating! We were all a little sad that my Grandma and Grandpa Andersen couldn't come to town this year. My Grandma is recovering after her hard (and successful) battle with cancer. I hardly have a single Christmas memory that doesn't include them. In fact, it was my mom's first Christmas spent without her parents her entire life. But we had a great time together at my mom's celebrating with the part of our family that lives here and thinking about the parts that don't.
Aubrey testing out Grandma and Grandpa's new Rock Band...
And of course, more presents...
Carson trying to take it all in...
Checking out their new easel...
And don't forget more FOOD....
I think these next two pictures really sum up the day.
Aubrey on our way to Grandma's...
And on our way back home...
(And it's only a 15 minute drive.)
Another wonderful Evans Family Christmas!
But wait, it's not over..........
The day after Christmas Brian's parents came into town for a second Christmas!!
More present opening at Scott and Jenn's house...
Testing out more of his new dress-up outfits. Apparently people are trying to save Carson from dressing up with Aubrey in her princess dresses!
That night we went to see the lights at the Botanical Gardens. It was freezing cold.....we didn't last very long....
You can see the "family photo" at the lights didn't quite go as planned....
Merry Christmas!
A couple days after Christmas the Idaho Vandals played in the Humanitarian Bowl here in Boise.....first time in a bowl game in 10 years. And they WON! Go Vandals!
And finally............. Happy New Year!!
We celebrated at a kid-friendly party at the Seeger's house again this year. Here they are "ringing in the New Year" with some confetti and poppers (at about 10:30)..........
Happy 2010 everyone!!
4 comments:
Way to go Steve! It was not too long - it was awesome! I loved it. It is amazing how similar our days were, despite being so far away. We must have been raised in the same house! I love the kids matching pajamas. They look darling. And my favorite picture is definitely Carson learning that the cookies are not for eating. I can picture the whole scene! I'm laughing again, just thinking about it! But the kids look darling and it looks like you all had a great day (or DAYS, I should say). Good posting!!
I love the picture of Carson crying over cookies. Hilarious. Great post. I read all of it! What do I get??
Loved catching up with your family's activites over the holiday. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
P.S. Sorry I didn't make it back to the Delta Sig party...we'll have to make plans to get together and visit more soon. Would love to have a play date...when are your days off?
Loved it! Not too long, perfect. Looks fun:)
Post a Comment