Christmas is Here!

Last Sunday after church Lyza played some piano with the headphones on. It sounded great to me ;)

 There was a lot of excitement when Grandma and Grandpa arrived

 Henry played Rook with us that evening

 The next morning the kids got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa playing games

 And doing perler beads

 I got to put together some Ikea drawers for a new shelf in Nixon's room

I also got some help from Nixon

 Mason was put to work cleaning out the Cool Whip container

 He took that job seriously

Grandpa fixed a drawer that has been bugging us for years 

 The kids made gingerbread houses

 We had a feast for dinner on Christmas Eve

 We also did some reading together

 Henry is all ready for Christmas

 Mason thought Henry might be lonely so he brought him a whole bunch of animals

 Me and my happy baby in front of the tree

 The kids left some treats for Santa and his reindeer

 Grandpa and Mason got some good snuggles

 Henry looks ready for bed

 Henry has learned to grab his foot

 It is also really cute when he gets this toy right above his mouth and tries to eat it

Santa came! The tree is all ready to be invaded by little people

 And here they are. I think they were out at about 6 am. I was woken up at 6:30 am so I could see the big kids open their boots

 Maybe she will sleep in longer in the summer when it is bright

 Mason slept in the longest. He got a cool flashlight in his boot

 Lyza got this tiger from Santa

 Mason got a Mr. Potato Head

 Grandpa was the best present of all ;)

 Nixon got some cool Star Wars books he can read himself

 Kim and I got a new camera. Lyza was gracious enough to do some dancing so I could test out how fast it could take pictures

Christmas morning can be a bit overwhelming for a 4-year-old 

 Especially when this type of yucky stuff is going on ;)

 The kids are helping me with a gift

 When you get Connect Four for Christmas, you start playing immediately

 The two big kids each got coupon books. I am reading them the different coupons. It was fun seeing how excited they were for each one

 This is the expression I like to see on Christmas morning

 This too

 Lyza used some of her own money to buy Nixon this shirt. He was literally jumping for joy when he got it!

 Kim opening up a special gift from Nixon

 Nixon getting photo-bombed by Lyza

 We eventually had to break for some yummy breakfast

Stolen shot of my beautiful wife

 Is that Lyza?

 Mason got play dough and a squeezer machine. He and Grandpa played with it lots

 Nixon got a Nightmare Before Christmas coloring book

 Henry was giving lots of cute Christmas smiles 

 Baby's First Christmas

 I don't think that cage can hold that tiger

 Handsome Nixon

 I got to get the turkey all ready...lucky me

 These potato heads are lots of fun

 Mason's tongue is out, he must be focusing

 Another smile on Nixon's face, I think he was feeling much better by this time

 Looks like Grandma is happy with what she got

 Nice flashlight

 Spider-Man pajamas!

 This is a really fun book: The Book With No Pictures

 An Iron Man costume too!

 I got a portrait lens for the new camera

 It works! Look at that beautifully blurry background!

 Henry was so chill

A toy train

  

 Kim got a sweet gift from Lyza 

 With her picture on it too

 The train was a hit with boys young and old

Selfie with my Nixon

 A floor puzzle of a firetruck

 We had to work on it right away

 Henry got a baby book! What a cool present! 

 The kids got a book with lots of perler bead templates

 Mason is so handsome. Where does he get it?

 That is a lot of excitement for a playing card holder

 I got a couple nice new ties

 Watching the chaos/excitement

 This is Kim reading out our family Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa. We can't wait for the family reunion this summer!

 What a cool gift from Grandma and Grandpa

 Henry also got some cool socks

 Is that Nixon?

 New shoes for mamma

 Cool socks dude

 They make Christmas look so easy!

 New wallet for mamma. Time for a night out with the girls?

 Mason working on his new activity book

 The kids got some very nice gifts from Ashley (their first cousin once removed according to a quick Google search ;)

  

 When things finally calmed down a little the adults got to play 

 Dinner was amazing, just like the dishwashers

 Nixon and Mason each got glow in the dark balls that they played with before bed

 And some more play dough because it is that amazing

 We had a wonderful Christmas. It was nice to be with family. It was also nice to talk to family that was far away.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!