Thursday, January 5, 2012

More Christmas Fun!

 I love pictures. I love the way I can remember the feel of the room, the smells, the sounds, the before and after of the shot. I try to take a lot of pictures because time goes so fast and I want to remember as much as I can of these days.

The busyness, the laughter, the frustrations, the way my house never looks clean because it is forever strewn with toys, the tired nights, the memorable family days (good and bad), the quiet moments, the hugs and kisses, the routines.

After a lengthy wait for Christmas breakfast which turned into more of a lunch (chalk that up to burnt onions and green peppers and a race to see which store was open on Christmas Day...), the boys finally got to open gifts:)

 They were just raring to go and helped sort the gifts into piles.

 Eliana took in all of the excitement from her highchair as she feasted on Christmas brunch:)

 I love that each of the boys got their "Wow" moment this Christmas, thanks to loved ones!
 Eliana said a lot of "Wow" and "ooooh!" this Christmas!

 Papa proudly wore his Russian fur hat while putting together E's new toy:)

 And there she is "Oooh-ing" as she got ready to push her new doll in the walker/stroller.
 Later that afternoon, we joined together for our annual big Christmas gathering at my aunt's house. The boys were kept entertained (and their new addictions were fed) by my mom and Aunt J, who loaned them phones to play "Angry Birds." By the end of our trip, I am ashamed to say that they weren't the only ones addicted. We went down one by one....

 The next few days were perfect for playing with new toys, including new art supplies from Grandma!

 The boys love to paint!

 Here is my mom's doggie "Winston Churchhound." He fell in love with us and all of our energy, perfect for a puppy!

 On the Thursday after Christmas, we finally had a long planned (as in, since we had our slumber party here last month) pajama party with Mugga! Mugga snuggled with the boys while we watched "Kung Fu Panda" (a surprisingly very cute movie!). Winston inched his way onto the bed and soon took over half of it:)

We munched on kettle corn (my newest addiction~yum!), holly cookies and tiny tims!

 Then Daddy read a story out of one of Samuel's new Magic Tree House books before we tucked the little fellers in bed.

 And here is Missy getting into my purse on New Year's Day:) We had a traditional Bohemian New Year's meal at my grandparent's house of pork roast, saurkraut, dumpling, applesauce and potatoes. The meal is supposed to bring good luck for the year, which would be nice:) It was my very first time tasting saurkraut (to the shock of my family) and I was actually pleasantly surprised! Even Eliana liked her little taste of it:)

And then we said goodbye to Mugga bright and early Tuesday morning as she headed off to work. It was a sad day for us to the leave the loving warmth of our families, especially for the boys. After we loaded up our van to the gills, we also got to meet Grandma and spend a few minutes with her, stocking up on hugs to carry us until the next time.

Thank you, dear family, for the special memories you helped create, for the ever-present open arms and acceptance that you show us, for the numerous hugs, for the laughter and for the blessings. We love you!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love seeing the pictures from Christmas. What fun we had. Love, Love Christmas. It is so great to all get together again and the spirit is so great. We have a super family.

grandma said...

That anonymous was me. Love you Heidi and family. You all are so special.

aunt t said...

Seeing Debbie on the floor with Winston on top of her is so funny! I bet the boys loved that silly cute dog

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