Christmas 2011

 Someday I will buy a new camera - maybe for our anniversary.  But you're stuck with iPhone pictures until then.  They aren't bad, but they're certainly not good.
Christmas Eve was eventful.  I still had a present to make and it was a sewing project.  Those always take longer for me.  But Michael REALLY wanted to take his parents to see Jungle Jim's International Market.  I know it's a grocery store.  But I've never been to a grocery store with so much eye candy.  We're always there for a few hours and the kids don't get bored.  There is so much to see.  So we went on Christmas Eve right before closing.  Yes, I know.  We were the annoying ones.  But we left before it technically closed.

 Opening their Christmas jammies.  The older two really needed them.  Andrew didn't.  So he got socks.  He's brutal on socks which is funny 'cause he rarely wears them.  More often than not I find them littering the floor than on his feet.

 Santa was good to these kids this year.  I've started making the big gifts and the large majority of the gifts come from us.  Santa does the stockings and one other gift.  That way Santa doesn't feel the pressure to get bigger every year.  :)

              This kid is so cute.  Look at that face!

 Joseph sent gifts from China months ago just for fun.  I decided to save them until Christmas.  She got a whole family of Barbies!  ('Course half of them broke in the first day.) 

 It was great having Mimi and Papaw with us!

 She loves rollerblading, so she got some protective padding for her knees and elbows.

 I had to include the picture of Patrick covering his face.  Too classic.  We still haven't figured out how to get the car to work though. 

 Trains were a big theme this year.  Mostly because my boys love them.

 This is a rabbit fur hand-me-down from Mimi.  Beautiful!  I hope it lasts long enough for her to appreciate it!

 This picture was PRICELESS!  All the kids were tired from the Christmas overload.  Right before she opened this Andrew stepped on one of her presents and she lost it.  So here she is, absolutely delighted with the new dress, but tears are still streaming down her blotchy face.  I hate to admit it, but I laughed inside of myself.

 I've been wanting these reusable grocery bags for years, but have always been too cheap to buy them myself.  (I know, they're like $1 each.  I'm a cheap skate!)  Now I just have to remember to bring them with me.

 

 Patrick used one of the Lowe's projects for kids to make Bekah a necklace hanger.  He painted it all by himself and was so pleased with it

 Mikey bought me some Stephen's Mint Truffle Hot Chocolate.  If you've never tried Stephen's, do. it. now.  My favorites are the Mint Truffle and their Wassail.  Good stuff.

 The crooked smile or the distracted face - can't decide which is funnier.

 My brother Eli visited Joseph in China for a few weeks and bought everyone's gifts over there.  Thus the two ties.  The hat is the Scottish flag.  My mom and two sisters went over there this summer and bought it for him.  He wore it the rest of the afternoon whilst making our Christmas feast.

 Our Christmas feast.  It doesn't look like tons, but it was delicious and filling.  Ham, funeral potatoes, salad and green beans.  Happy Christmas!