We Wish You a Merry Christmas

How could Christmas have come and gone so fast!  The past few days have been so busy...but so fun!  I think Christmas gets more exciting each year with the kids and they get cuter and cuter in their Christmas outfits.  On Christmas Eve we went to church with my family and then went to Andy's parents house for dinner and to open gifts.  Christmas Day was spent at our house in the morning so Ava and Isaiah could enjoy all the presents from Santa and Mommy and Daddy.  We spent the afternoon and part of the evening at my parents house celebrating with my family, my sister's family, and my Uncle Dave.  Here are a few pictures...but all of them are included in yet another slide show that you can find on the post below. 

This guy has such a silly smile!  How adorable does he look in his vest and tie!  Isaiah was leaving carrots out for the reindeer.  We left 10 carrots for the reindeer...you probably know that there are only nine reindeer.  If you've ever watched the Disney animated Christmas movie "Prep and Landing" you'd know that Thrasher is another massive/tough reindeer that lives at the North Pole.  The kids didn't want to forget him.  We were hoping that Santa would take that extra carrot back to feed Thrasher!

The kids decorated two sugar cookies just for Santa.  We put them on our Polar Express plate.  Ava and Isaiah decided that Santa needed chocolate milk this year and that we also needed a bowl of water for the reindeer.

Our family after church service on Christmas Eve

These two melt my heart!  We went to Andy's parents house to celebrate after church.  This was a quick picture in front of their tree.

I'm getting much better at remembering to take pictures of Andy and myself.  Now I just need to remember to take more pictures of the four of us!

Ava and Grandpa

Once dinner was over the dress clothes came off and the pajamas went on.  These two live for pajamas.  I think they collected 5 new pairs each this Christmas!

Aunt Jody and good old Harley

Grandma and Isaiah hiding behind his new ISU pillow pet.  The kids each got one...and when I say kids...I mean, Ava, Isaiah, and Andy each got their own.  They are soooo comfortable!

Christmas morning the kids woke up to find the milk, cookies, carrots, and water gone.  The stockings were stuffed and Santa left a special note along with the presents.

Santa brought Ava American Girl Doll Bitty Baby Twins.  She's always wanted these two.  It's also her first boy doll.  She was so excited!

Jackson opens gifts like a person...just put it in front of him and away he goes.

After opening Santa's gifts we headed downstairs by our family tree to open all the presents from Andy and myself.  Isaiah was helping to pass out the presents.  He was really into it all this year!

Next we headed over to my parents house for brunch and an early dinner.

Ava got a new doll to add to her collection...a girl can never have enough dolls...right?

Yeah...a family picture.  Isaiah was waking up from taking a nap in the car and looked a little grumpy.  The sight of presents soon cheered him up!

Julie, Kevin, and Isabelle got Isaiah Pumba as part of his present.  He already has three Simbas on his bed and Pumba was the next character he needed.

My Dad was showing us some swords that belonged to his Dad and while he was looking around he found this picture.  This is my Dad as Jefferson J-Hawk football player.  There are so many neat stories that I've heard from both sides of our families...start journaling everyone so I can remember them all!

Miss Isabelle opening up presents with her Mommy and Daddy

Grandma and Isaiah taking a "sled ride" down the stairs

The three cousins playing PBS Kids on the laptop

Ava enjoying a peppermint with Grandpa

What a great Christmas!  Thanks to everyone for the company, food, and thoughful gifts. 

Merry Christmas!

My Three Happy's:

1) ...the obvious one...Christmas Day!  I asked the kids last night, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" Isaiah was busy eating Chex Mix in the car and didn't respond...Ava said, "Because it's Jesus's birthday." 

2) Seeing both sides of our family...another reason to mention why we're so lucky that we live close to both of our parents.

3) The kids both fell asleep in the car on the way home and were in bed by 7:15.  That could be due to the fact that Ava was up at 1:00am and told me she was ready to get up.  I finally persuaded her to go back to sleep when I told her that we didn't know for sure if Santa had been here or not...it was still the middle of the night.  She then woke up for good at 5:30...Isaiah was up at 6:15.  It seems like we drag these kids out of bed during the school week, but once the weekend or a break rolls in...the get up at the crack of dawn.  Some days I really do love getting up early with them and starting the day...other times I think about how at some point I'm going to have to drag them out of bed at noon.  That may not be so bad for a while!