Christmas Fun 2010

The boys were quite excited to get out the treats for Santa and his reindeer. Tyler insisted that Santa is a "Ute Fan" so we used our U of U mug for his milk. :)

The kids were good about waking up at their usual time...just before 7:00 am. I guess their internal alarm clocks were still working even on Christmas! Like a mean mommy would do, I made them sit on the stairs long enough for me to take their picture - even though they could see all of the presents down in the family room just waiting to be opened. I know, mean huh?

Santa left their presents right by where the treats were left the night before. The boys knew right what to do. They ripped those puppies open like nobody's business....so quick, in fact, I had a hard time keeping up and taking pictures!

Sam got some Christmas themed Thomas trains and some Christmas themed Geo Trax (I guess Santa just couldn't decide!). Tyler got "just what he wished for" - a Fire Breathing Night Furry (aka "Toothless" from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon").

Lilly got her very own Tinkerbell....which she carried around with her all morning long. She also got some princess dress-up shoes, which she was super excited about.

I always love a good "aftermath" picture. The sad thing is that it pretty much looked like that for the next 4 days until I muster up enough energy to clean it all up!

Our first Christmas stop was to my mom and dad's house. Papa is always a very willing volunteer to help the little ones open up their presents! Lilly had a great time opening up most of her presents right there on Papa's lap. Papa was so cute to add his most enthusiastic "ooh's" and "aah's" as she opened up girly things like hair clips, purple socks, and an apron. :)

Pretty Lilly posing in her new apron from Grandma.

I had to laugh at the next two pictures......this first one shows one side of the living room. Looks pretty calm, right? Jason, Verity, and Matt look so relaxed and enjoying the moment.

Well, this is what the other side of the room looked like during the opening-of-presents-chaos! Cousins everywhere....presents everywhere.....and, of course, Grandma was right in the thick of it directing "present traffic" like a true professional.

The kids were thrilled with all of their new presents! So, thank you Grandma and Papa for spoiling us! I always love capturing a fresh I-just-opened-up-a-really-cool-present SMILE, like this one of Sam when he opened up his Zhu-zhu pet!

Here is another picture of pure new-toy-joy:

Grandma surprised the boys with a Toy Story 3 playset. They were both over the moon about it. Sam played with it for the remainder of our time at Grandma's house that day.....

This year we "picked" Jason's family to give to. They were extremely easy....all they wanted was a gift card to their favorite electronics store! They were absolutely stoked with Best Buy money which they quickly spent the following Monday!

After all of the fun present time, we sat down to a very tasty lunch - thanks mom! Grandpa Rod, Grandma Nan, Grandma Lola, and Aunt Rochelle came to join us....and we had a great time celebrating with them. Unfortunately, I did not get my annual picture of Grandpa Rod in his usual holiday festive-ness....but trust me, he looked as festive as always! Love you Grandpa! :)

After our lovely time with the Cushings was all done, we packed up our stuff and headed over to the Cropper festivities. We were also very blessed to have Matt's brother, Bryce, and his family in town from Maine!!! It was "the year of having brothers in town" - and it was awesome!!! We miss them dearly....and it was our very first time meeting our niece Emily. She is such a cutie-patootie!

We had a great time opening presents with the Croppers and we also stayed for dinner with everyone including Matt's cousins on his mom's side. The house was PACKED with people but it was fun to see everyone, eat yummy food, and chat with people I don't get to see very often. We were excited to have Ryan, Matt's cousin that sings in Octappella, and his girlfriend, Charity, come for dinner. We found out later that Ryan proposed that night - so we are VERY happy for the lovely couple! But now who will the Octappella guys tease about being single??? :)

I did manage to make it into one picture on Christmas! (thanks to my sis-in-law Heather!)

I always kick myself for not trying harder - at least on Christmas! - to be in more pictures. But this will have to do for this year. I also kick myself for not taking more pictures in general during the holidays....especially since both of our brothers and their families were in town. Darn it. I suppose not feeling all that great had something to do with it. So I guess if I'm going to make a resolution for myself this coming year - it is to try and take more pictures (oh, and try to be in some of them!)!!!