One Last Dose of Christmas Fun

Dave's parents were in Hawaii for Christmas this year. We missed them, but were thankful to get to celebrate with them and Dave's brother's family on New Year's Eve. Benjamin brought his new guitar over and Grandpa gave him his first lesson. They were really sweet playing together.

Collin got some music time in too. He looks like such a little man here to me!

When their cousins got there it was time for the present craziness to continue!

Uncle Jimmy helping Anna with her new skirt that does the Hokey Pokey.

Benjamin's new space ship set.

Collin was always so methodical while opening presents. He had to make sure to get every little piece of paper off the present before he would let you open the box for him. Now that Christmas is over he still asks for presents from time to time. The poor kid got them for so many days that he's confused and thinks its an everyday occurrence now!

Anna and Jack discovering their treasures.

Grandma and Grandpa brought back souvenirs for everyone from Hawaii and Anna got this adorable hula outfit.

Glad they finally got some fun play time with their cousins from Dave's side of the family!

Benjamin's 6th Birthday Fun

We had a lot of fun celebrating Benjamin's birthday. We went to the movies (a rare and very special treat!)....Benjamin's choice. He picked the new Alvin and the Chipmunks. They LOVED it!! It was so great watching them smile and giggle through the whole thing.

Later that evening it was time for his present from Mom and Dad....

The only thing Benjamin wanted for Christmas was a "real guitar". I was worried that he'd be disappointed Christmas when he didn't get one yet, but he never mentioned it. His surprised face when he opened his guitar was magical! He LOVES it!!

I love how he watches everyone sing to him!

He had to work hard to blow out these candles!

Benjamin loves strawberry ice cream and was pretty excited to get to pick out this ice cream cake!

It ended up being a good thing we celebrated his birthday with my family a little the night before because three people were sick the next day. Benjamin still managed to have a lot of fun at his party though. He got some great gifts....

He loves that he's six now!

He wanted a soccer birthday, so this was what I came up with for his cake. Benjamin seemed to really love it!

He remembered how hard the candles were to blow out the night before and only had to give them one big blow this time. Love this picture!

Dave was pretty tickled when he captured this expression....

Three busy boys quiet as they enjoy some cake and ice cream.

We had fun celebrating Benjamin's birthday with our family and later in the month he gets to have his first sleepover with his friends to celebrate. He is so excited!!

Christmas Celebrations Continue

Later in the afternoon we headed down to my parents' house and had a fun Christmas with them and then with all of my dad's extended family.

I loved the boys matching tie shirts and CAN'T believe that I didn't get a picture of them together.

Collin loved this little doggie. He also got a really cool rocking Elmo set that he loves!

Anna with her seek-n-find books. She got car sick on the way there and was kind of out of it for the rest of the day.

She LOVED this unicorn though!

Playing a fun game that their Aunt Katie made just for them.

Anna was so happy when it was time to put on the matching nightgown to her baby doll!

And Collin was overjoyed by the Elmo pajamas he got from Grandma!

 

Later in the week we went to this Christmas exhibit they had set up in a hotel downtown. The kids loved it and we adults thought it was pretty cool too. Anna's favorite party was the winter fairy. Here she is pretending to be her.

The boys found reindeer.

The kids thought the little town was pretty cool.

And they all loved meeting the fairy!

I've never seen the four of them sit so still as they did while listening to the story!

Benjamin loves gingerbread houses!

Next it was time to go see all the beautiful Christmas inflatables.

Benjamin and Anna writing their names on the Naughty/Nice list. The both chose the nice side. : )

Merry Christmas!!!

At the end there was a beautiful room with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, the shepherds, angels, 

and wise men.

Benjamin told me to look at him and when I did he started mimicking this nutcracker. It was too funny!

Since Christmas was over, Santa wasn't there. So the boys decided they would climb into his seat. Hopefully, he doesn't mind!

Christmas Eve/Morning

Our family Christmas card picture.

(12/23/11) Dave wanted a picture of the boys in their matching monkey shirts while eating their lasagna and was tickled when he captured this.

We always let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve and this year we had a great time. Collin was so in love with his "big present, mine red big present!" (He LOVES red!)

What is it? The anticipation is so exciting! (It was a construction site with a remote control dump truck and he loves it)

Anna was over joyed by her new babies and plays with them for hours every day.

I love Benjamin's smirk/dimple combo here!

Everyone quickly dispersed to play happily with their new treasures.

Look how serious these two guys look building their K'nex vehicles.

Collin was really into Christmas this year and loved every bit of it!

Christmas Eve service at our church.

The kids were excited to see their friends on Christmas Eve.

 

 

My handsome boys!

After church we took the kids to a live nativity which was really neat and then had Chinese food for supper....a great day!

   

Christmas morning was so much fun. We are so blessed to be able to bring joy to our kids as we celebrate Christmas together. They all loved their presents and were so happy!

 

 

 

Benjamin loves Wolverine and was so excited that I finally found him a Wolverine toy!

Anna was giddy over her nightgown with a matching one for her baby doll!

Collin continued to love his presents.

Stocking time!

One of Benjamin's very favorite gifts was this watch Santa put in his stocking. He wears it everyday even while sleeping.

It was a really fun morning. There were a few sad moments (Collin reached up and touched the stove right after I had turned it on to make breakfast and burnt his hand pretty bad (with blisters that are still bothering him over a week later) and then Anna got car sick on the way to Grandma's house and threw up) but mostly if was full of joy, joy, joy! My favorite was how excited the kids were that it was finally baby Jesus' turn to be put on their advent calendar. All three kids seemed to honestly love the true meaning of Christmas and that is a wonderful blessing!