Christmas 2010

A month later and I am finally writing our Christmas post. It was actually taking the time to download pictures that was keeping me from doing it. We had a very busy, but wonderful Christmas. The kids were so much fun this year! Instead of doing a bunch of different posts, I'm just putting it all in one. Blogger doesn't organize pics in the order you upload them, so I'm just going to tell our Christmas events in order of the pictures.

We started Christmas at Grammy's (my mom) house on Christmas Eve. We ate some yummy food, hung out, and then opened gifts. We also had fun with the Fuji Instax camera I won. It's like one of the old Polaroid cameras....huge and so fun. My brother and nephews liked making fun of it, but I think they really like it. =)

Here is Andrew opening his Toy Story Yahtzee game from the Buchanan's. This has probably been one of the most used Christmas presents. We play at least once a day.

Matt, Luke, and Andrew before we ate. They looked so cute in their coordinating shirts!

Ella and Ken. Barbie was a huge theme in Ella's Christmas gifts. She loves them!

The grandkids on Christmas Eve.

Family picture of the year.

We left Grammy's house in time to get home, put our pajamas on, and be ready for Santa's visit (see the post below). After Santa left, it was bed time for the kids. This year I actually had all the presents wrapped, so I just had to carry them upstairs and put them under the tree. It's always SO fun getting the presents ready. It makes me so excited for the next morning. I almost have a hard time sleeping.

Ella woke up first on Christmas morning. I went in to get her and we headed in to wake up Andrew and Daddy. They were excited when we went in the living room, but a little quiet, not totally sure what to say. We did stockings and then gifts. Andrew was more interested in opening one after another, and Ella wanted to take her time.

Here's the final product to await the smiling kiddos in the morning.

Andrew's big gift this year was a new bike. He loves it. I was a little nervous when I saw the size of it, but he does great (post coming soon on that). He has been waiting for warm weather again, so he can ride it.

Luke didn't need much for Christmas, but I still wanted to get him a few things. Here is his Little People airplane Andrew and Ella opened for him and showed him. Andrew and Ella have also played with his airplane several times since Christmas, so he won't even be the first to play with it.

Ella making us some pizza. Her two main themes for gifts this year were Barbie and kitchen stuff. She loves playing with both!

Andrew was very excited about his light sabers. He and Daddy have a lot of light saber fights. This is what he took for Show and Tell for his favorite Christmas gift. (He first chose his nerf gun, but I suggested something other than a gun to take to school, so then he chose light sabers....basically swords.) =)

The shot of all 3 of them just wasn't happening. This is the best we got.

Luke and all his gifts....all of which are for future use. =)

Ella and her gifts. We bought her Barbie house on craigslist back in September. I wanted to give it to her so bad, so I was super excited we were finally able to. Unfortunately, we missed her initial reaction to it. I had gone into the closet to get a shirt, Matt was still in bed, and Ella took off for the living room looking for me. By the time I got there, she was already bent down in front of the house looking at it.

Andrew and his gifts. Andrew had fun with all his gifts. He liked his bike, Batman costume, and light sabers most. And his cowboy boots, of course. He doesn't even ever want to wear his tennis shoes anymore...it's always his boots. He looks pretty good in them, too.

We had cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast.

Ella got new underwear and socks for Christmas and insisted on wearing them. This is what she wore while she played with all her new toys. She has had a lot of fun with her new Barbie house.

After opening presents and playing with the kids' new toys on Christmas morning, we headed to Great Grandma and Grandpa Kliethermes' house for the afternoon and evening. We didn't get home until after 9. This would be good time to say we had a white Christmas. I say this now because everyone was getting stuck trying to get out of the driveway. We had a great lunch, visited with family, and had a great time. Great Grandma Kliethermes made Ella an apron and got her stainless steel pots for her kitchen. Andrew got Cootie, which we also play a lot.

Here is Andrew and Luke hanging out:

The day after Christmas was busy, too. We went to Nana's (Matt's mom) and Donny's house for brunch at 10. Again, more yummy food, time with family, and opening gifts. The hit of the party was Matt's hot sauce. Those brave enough to try it, didn't use much (well, except Rob). =)

Andrew and Ella playing with Ryan's phone:

Woody and Jessie (aka Andrew and Ella). Uncle Rob and Aunt Katie got them cowboy hats, so they could play Toy Story. They always pretend to be Woody and Jessie, so the hats complete it.

After Christmas with Nana, we went home for a short nap and then headed to Grandpa Dean and Grandma Tina's house for our final Christmas celebration. We had more food, spent more time with family, and opened more presents.

Here are Andrew and Ella with Andrew's Toy Story action figures...Woody, Jessie, and Buzz. They almost have a complete set of Toy Story and love playing with them. Andrew also got Slinky Dog from us and Mr. Potato Head from Grammy.

Overall a very fun Christmas. The kids had a great time and surprisingly didn't get too crabby with the lack of sleep. I think they were slightly overwhelmed at times, but no major meltdowns. They have had a great time playing with all their new gifts. We have a wonderful family and loved spending the holiday with them. Thank you to everyone for the gifts....Andrew, Ella, and Luke really do love their grandparents and aunts and uncles.