Christmas Fun

We had a really nice Christmas visiting with lots of our family. It was a blast watching the how much fun the kids had during it all. This year, Campbell was at the perfect age. So much anticipation and excitement all through December, she nearly burst. She was pumped about every single gift she got, she would exclaim "I've always wanted this" every time she opened a present. (Which by the way, she said that A TON because everyone went completely overboard buying presents for the kids. Although I say we scale it back considerably next year, Campbell & Blake would most likely disagree.) Blake was a not quite sure of all the commotion going on around him. He did love seeing Santa all over the place and he'd excitedly proclaim "Tanta!" and "ho, ho, ho". He took his time opening his presents & he didn't want to stop playing with the present he had just opened to open another one.

Some pictures of the festivities over the extended Christmas weekend: 

Christmas Eve prime rib dinner at Grammy & Papa John's.

Cousins

New trucks. Perfect for lining up.

Getting in some cuddling with Papa John

Campbell loved this hat from that came all the way from Singapore from Uncle Troy, Aunt Lora & Cousin Alex. She was prowling around saying "ggrrr, grrr, ggrrr". It was pretty cute. Unfortunately, I can't get Blake to wear his matching lion hat.

Christmas Day in Melrude at Ginia-mom & Papa Stan's. Everyone brought a $25 gift and we played a dice game to win/steal prizes. Elizabeth, Paul & I were in a down to the wire fight for this cozy blanket that Mariah made. I won only because the dice were lost in the closing seconds in the couch. We had a lot of good laughs.

Lots of fun/funny Christmas decorations to check out everywhere we went

This is the best picture we could get of my kiddos dressed in their Christmas best.

Decorating Christmas cookies.

Opening presents at Nana & Papa's. I don't know which round of opening presents this was. I am serious when I say it took several days to open the large amount of presents for Campbell & Blake. Campbell is pictured here with her new Dora umbrella. Not sure why she doesn't have pants on, although she does have Dora undies on which is appropriate.

We've been wanting to see Bentleyville for a few years now so we thought it would work out good to stop by on our way back home on Saturday evening.

All those lights are pretty amazing! Also can't beat free hot cocoa/coffee/popcorn/cookies/roasting marshmallows. Fun!

Happy that a bunch of family braved the cold & joined us....I guess they are from Alaska so they could hold their own!

Woke up at home on Sunday morning to find a bunch of presents under the tree from Santa. Campbell asked where were the presents from her to Blake? Woops. I kept saying all season long about how it's important to remember that it's better to give than to receive,  so it was great that stuck with her. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot about actually having her pick out presents for people....next year!

Blake blowing on the fun shaped pancakes for breakfast.

It must be Christmas....how'd you get your blanket & paci out of your crib?

How did Santa know that she'd love a camera? A purple and pink one, none the less!

Love this lego truck from Rachy & Matt. He plays with this for extended periods of time unlike anything else he's played with.