Merry Christmas

It has taken me a few days to get myself organized enough to think about doing a blog post about Christmas.  Mike was joking Christmas night after all of the presents had been opened and said, "Close the blinds on the front of our house.  We look like an episode from the show Hoarders!"  We did not go overboard with our gifts for the kids, but when you pile in all of the gifts from 2 sets of grandparents and other relatives, the house becomes a little crazy! 

All kidding aside, we really had a great Christmas.  Following our normal tradition, we spent the evening of Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my brothers and their families.  The little kids played Candy Land while waiting for everyone to get ready to eat and open presents.

I caught Anna Grace sneaking a treat before we were ready to eat (she insisted on wearing a Santa hat since my niece and nephew were wearing their Santa hats)
 

We started taking a picture of my oldest nephew each year with this snowman when he was just a little baby. The snowman was huge compared to my nephew's size back then. It is fun to see how much the kids have grown (in size and in number!!)

After Christmas Eve at my mom's house, it was time to go home to get ready for Santa.  Anna Grace seemed to be on overload from the sugar and excitement of Christmas because she talked and sang songs the entire way home...the entire hour and 15 minutes...I had dressed her in her new Christmas pjs before we left my mom's house in hopes that she would fall asleep on the way home, but she kept looking out the window to see if she could find Santa in the sky.  Santa did finally come after all of the kids were nestled snug in their beds.  He brought a new bike for Cole, a kayak for Alex, and for Anna Grace, a little bike, art easel, and the Lala Loopsy that she has been talking about for a month. 

The kids were really excited Christmas morning when they saw what Santa had brought.

After Christmas morning presents and breakfast, Mike's parents joined us for church.  It was nice to take a break from all of the presents and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. 

Finally, it was time to head to Mike's parents for Christmas with his side of our family.  His parent's house is the gathering place for all of the cousins, aunts, uncles, and other extended family so we always have a big crowd when we go there.

 By time we were finished, we were all exhausted!  Our living room looked like it had been taken over by pink Disney princesses and you could not see the dining room table or floor.  The day after Christmas was spent organizing the house back to some degree of normalcy and playing with all of the new toys and presents.