OUR Christmas(es)

Our own Christmas started early this year.  We really debated over when to celebrate our own family Christmas and asked the kids what their votes would be (though reminding them it wasn't a democracy...).  In the end we decided to have an early Christmas at home.  The Saturday before Christmas was deemed the unofficial "25th" in our household.  The beauty of it was that since it wasn't a traditional holiday, all the stores were open and Mike was able to get us donuts as a special treat!

After breakfast we headed downstairs to open a few gifts.  Each kid receives five presents and we had decided to have them open three of them, saving two to open on Christmas day in Iowa (per their request...we aren't totally dictatorial).

Be forewarned: we aren't the family that buys super cute matching pajamas so our pictures look good on Christmas morning.  We aren't even the family that brushes our hair before gift opening so some of these aren't pretty....

Sadie was up first in hopes that she would be kept occupied with her "surprise" gift while the rest of us were opening ours.

Jake had wanted a pair of headphones for quite awhile.  He had taken no great pains to remind us constantly of how much he wanted a pair.  While we couldn't/wouldn't gift him with the $200 beats by Dr. Dre pair he thought would work, he seems pretty happy with the pair he received.

We had the kids open their second gift at the same time since they were getting the same thing.

The bow tradition was upheld - even amidst those less enthusiastic than others..

They opened their first box only to find a smaller box wrapped inside.  I had completely forgotten we'd done this (happy 11pm wrapping!) so it was a fun little surprise for everyone.

Both kids received a tablet for their big presents.  Maddie had told us she KNEW she was getting one of these.  Admittedly - we weren't exactly super stealth on some of the research here, but no complaints from the peanut gallery!

At this point, Christmas slowed way down for us.  Everyone wanted to see how these things worked.  Such a geeky family.

 After a bit Mike and I were allowed to open gifts again.

Mike has really enjoyed learning about new wines over the last year and had recently been on a work trip and had raved over a new wine he'd tried.  It made his Christmas list and he was SO excited to get a bottle for Christmas.  I thought it would be saved for a special occasion.  It was: that night's steak dinner.

I got some goodies too!  At the top of my list had been a new purse, but inside was a surprise: a reusable bag that I had been eyeing at the Container Store for months!

I love that it scrunches up into a ball - fits so easily in my purse and works SO AWESOME.  Mike promised me he'd buy another for me sometime because he said, "I know you'll never buy yourself one."  I've already used it multiple times at Target and am ridiculously giddy when I pull it out.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around, studying manuals and books and websites.  Did I mention we are geeks?

Well...most of us...

Christmas #2 for us was in Iowa at the hotel.  Jake was super excited that there was a workout room so on Christmas morning he, Mike and I headed down for a "workout".  Maddie thought we were all insane.  Jake and Mike actually did things while I spotted for Jake's weight training while watching HGTV.  Afterward we headed to breakfast and to the room where the kids opened two small gifts.

Jake was only too excited when he found out the hotel offered free tea in the lobby area.  He had a cup in hand every chance he got.

Gift opening was pretty simple, but nice for them to have something to celebrate the day...

The rest of the morning was spent watching a movie and knitting until meeting up with our family.

Christmas #3 was back at home where stockings awaited us.  No pictures exist from here because, quite frankly - I was kind of Christmas-ed out at this point.  I think we all were.

So...that ends the holidays - at least the national ones - for around these parts.  We had a  many lovely Christmases alone and together with family.  We are very blessed!

Christmas a la Iowa

This year we headed to Iowa to be with Mike's side of the family for Christmas.  The time down south went extremely fast!

Christmas eve we headed to church in the afternoon and after changing clothes met back at Pat and Missy's for dinner and gift exchanges.

We may have tortured the kids because during dinner we started watching "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" (which if you haven't seen...DO!!)  Anyway - we kept postponing gift opening until the adults were finished watching the movie.  Ahhh....the joys of holiday torture!

While everyone was setting up their spots I coerced convinced Steven to get a picture taken with his mom.

Then opening began.  We went around in a circle and paper was flying everywhere!

All the giggle girls together...

During a break in the action we were able to get an updated picture of all the kids together.  Yikes...they are all getting so much older - and bigger.  I remember when all of them could easily sit across the floor in a single line!

Round two of opening gifts!  Each family was given a pretty new ornament for their tree.

20-year-old Steven received an Iowa Hawkeye Bottle Opener.  I don't know why he would need that...there aren't many  pop bottles around anymore.

Aaron was a trooper that night.  He opened our Legos and then opened his next box and it contained the exact same set of Legos.  What are the chances of that, really?  But he was still very excited and went to work getting everything put together.

Each kid had a big bag to open from our friend, Carolyn.  Jewelry, socks, stuffed animals; those girls were going to be super comfy!

After gift opening the boys broke out the dessert - Apple Pie or Chocolate Mousse.  The Mousse was fairly rich, but I managed to eat my entire piece...and scrape the plate clean.

Christmas morning we spent at the hotel.  Mike and the kids watched "The Avengers" while I sat in the other room and watched HGTV and worked on some knitting I've been trying to learn.  In the afternoon we headed over to his aunt's house for a family gathering of his mom's side of the family.

There are a lot of kids on this side of the family.  Truth be told, there are a lot of kids on both sides of his family.

We had a white elephant gift opening.  This was highly entertaining at times!

Jake ended up with a serving platter that you can imagine he was pretty excited to receive.  He managed to pawn it off on Mike and we left it in the good care of Pat and Missy who thought they could use it.

The hot ticket items seemed to be the home-made laundry detergent, a remote control, and for awhile, just about anything Uncle John chose.

A. received a conglomeration of stuffed animals and tried his hardest to get someone to take them off his hands.  Even his grandpa refused them...but he managed to get rid of them to one of his youngest cousins later.

Mike's aunt opened up the giant bag that had been driving me crazy with curiosity.  It ended up being a bag FULL of outdoor toys - giant balls, jump ropes, and I can't think of everything.  She has a baby grand-daughter who is going to LOVE those one of these days!

It was a very full day of hanging out and getting the chance to catch up with family that we only get to see a couple times a year.

We were in Iowa about four days and like I said, it went incredibly fast.  Unfortunately, we never really had the time to head out to visit friends or even the other side of Mike's family.  We'll definitely have to do better planning on the next trip!  The kids had a blast hanging out with their cousins and I think everyone created some new memories until we see each other again!

First of a few Christmas Recaps...

Happy New Year, everyone!

We've had a really great break.  Mike is in a slight depression that today is the last day and is kicking himself for not taking off the rest of the week and wanting to kick some Shakopee patootie for not giving the kids the rest of the week off.  Oh well.  I have the rest of the week off.  :)

Because of the break and me not really touching my computer since about December 21st, there is a little back-tracking I need to do.

This year my family celebrated Christmas in mid-December.  

We started with our annual family photo - this just gets so much easier every year!

But on to bigger things....presents!!

First there were stockings...

(Each of the younger girls got a complete princess set - including new lip gloss!)

This was really the calm...

Before the storm...

We unwrap gifts in turns so this process can take awhile, but it's fun to see what everyone got and their expressions!

(I totally thought we'd be the loser aunt/uncle who gave a Frisbee to Austin.  HOWEVER - he was so excited to get this Captain America shield - our gift giving reputation was saved thanks to a marketing genius!)

(Mom tends to get pretty excited over her gifts.)

(Dad...not so much.  This is his face right before he says, "That's really neat."  In "dad-speak" this is the equivalent to a normal person saying, "Wow!  Stupendous!!  That's SO AWESOME!!!"  Tracy and I have both managed to follow mom's lead and marry men who express excitement with periods at the ends of their declarations.  It's so unsatisfying.)

 (This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.  Riley was over the moon about getting a horse that was about as big as her.  I love Ellie's arms out - she just looks so happy for her sister.  Or she's asking Riley to hand it over...but I choose to believe the first scenario.)

(Maddie is definitely out of the toy stage and getting into more girly-girl things.  We haven't decided if this makes shopping for her easier or harder - but she was pretty happy with her gifts that day!)

 (Jake received a blanket from my parents.  They weren't sure he would like it, but it's a duplicate of one that he LOVES at their house, only it matches his room.  He declared that night that it could very well be the best present he received for Christmas.)

(Probably one of my favorite pictures of my mom.  She loves having her house full of family and you can see it on her face.)

(Dan's got his hands full with three girls but he looks okay with that...)

It was a really wonderful Saturday filled with lots of food, lots of fun, and lots of goofballs!