Merry Christmas!

This post is mostly for our family that we can't be with over Christmas! If you feel like reading and looking at pictures, carry on, I'm just warning that there are a lot.

'Twas the night before Christmas - Not sure why the boys chose to brush their teeth lying on their backs in the hallway, but they did. Christmas morning we enjoyed some sparkling cider that some friends gave us. Well, all of us but Braeden!
Gaven made himself at home, as usual, with one of his three toys: the telephone, the remote or the wireless mouse (which we have found AND not found in various places throughout the house. This would be the one time I wish we had a wired mouse). At least THIS time he decided to play with HIS phone and not mine!

The smells in the kitchen drove Dakota CRAZY all morning! Isn't she cute!

Even though the boys' new kitchen that Santa brought them doesn't emit smells, there sure were some wild concoctions going on in the playroom! On the menu this morning - fried bacon, bananas, taco, celery and avacado, all in the pan together!

They LOVE their new kitchen.

Here is the REAL food, smelling up the house on Christmas morning.

Daddy gave Dakota a special Christmas morning treat, too. She got her food mixed with the bacon grease! She sure took her time licking that bowl clean!

After breakfast, Mommy cleaned up in the kitchen while the boys worked on their lego models with Dad.
Let the games begin . . . If this picture doesn't crack you up, I'm not sure what will? Carsen was pretty intense while boxing against his big brother. I have a video that I will post later of the two of them playing tennis against each other. This is our first time ever having a game system, and we LOVE our Wii! Thank you, Grandma and Papa (Abrahamsen), we know this will bring HOURS of fun to our family!

Santa brought Gaven two new pacifiers. He walked around the whole time we were playing the Wii with both of them in his hands. Do you ever wonder where pacifiers go when they get lost. It seems like one day we will have 6, and then the next day, we can only find 1.

This year, we used the web cam with both of our families to open gifts from grandparents. Jason's parents were last this year. The boys LOVE their high flying airport from Geotrax, as you can see. Thank you Nanu and Papa (Mann)!!

One last picture of Carsen playing with his action figures from Nanu and Papa, too.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was comforting as a Mom to see my boys attentive to and thankful for everything they got. I know I don't tell them enough how wonderful I think they are. They really ARE good kids. We had presents under our tree all day and they had to wait for different times to open them. I didn't hear any complaining and whining, just an occasional gentle reminder from Braeden that we needed to call Nanu and Papa to see if they were ready to open gifts.

We always miss our family, but even more so at this time of the year. This is our 3rd consecutive Christmas NOT being able to be with family. Last year because I was REALLY pregnant with Gaven, and the year before, we had just visited in the month of November to see my grandpa who was very sick. We're somewhat thankful that we didn't try traveling this year with all the snow that has fallen in the NW, and all the airport cancellations and closures!

We will never forget the reason that we celebrate Christmas. The birth of a little Babe in Bethlehem forever changed the world. We're thankful for the freedom to worship Him, and to celebrate His birthday!