Christmas...

Wow, I'm really behind with my posts. This time of year always gets me a little behind on the extra stuff.

We had a wonderful Christmas! (Sorry, no pictures, we forgot to pack the camera.) We stuffed the car and headed to my parent's house on Christmas Eve and didn't come home until the evening of the 27th. It was SO FUN to be with my parents, siblings, brother-in-laws and niece for a few days. We have so much fun when we're all together. The kids absolutely adore their aunts and uncles (and token cousin on my side). Especially Quarter-pint-he LOVES Uncle J! There is a great bond between them. They just hang out together all the time. On Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful dinner, then we all sat around and played Christmas carols on the pipe chimes. It was hilarious, as we tried to sing along-but we (me most definitely included) often missed our cue or played our note at the wrong time. We eventually moved to the piano (which sounded much better) and sang several carols together. It's so nice to actually have a few more male voices to balance out all the girls! The kids all got new pjs to wear as they patiently and quickly went to bed to wait for Santa's arrival.

We had a huge breakfast on Christmas morning while we all played with the gifts that Santa left. Half-pint got a matchbox trick track, and a mini trampoline (Santa knows how much Half-pint likes to jump on the couch and the beds). Quarter-pint got a big set of fancy bristle blocks. The most exciting gift was a Wii Santa left for Aunt C5 and Aunt C6. Half-pint really enjoys playing the "weed" at Grandma's house (but it belongs to Aunt C3 and Uncle J- and they just left to go back to school), so it's a good thing Santa came through!

We all just hung out together-going swimming at the local rec. center (Half-pint finally got brave and went down the big water slide with Uncle D-and he's still talking about it), and some went to an NBA game. The girls went shopping together one morning. We had a baby shower for Aunt C3. We really enjoyed simply being together!

On New Year's Eve we packed the car again and headed to Grammy's house to have Christmas with Daddy's family. It's always great to get the cousins together. The 3 "big" boys always have a blast running around the stairwells-around and around and around. The present opening was fast and furious, with the little ones crowding Grammy the entire time.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful, loving, caring and truly great family (on both sides) so close. We enjoy the many opportunities to be with family, all year through, but especially during the holidays.