Christmas Recap

I cannot believe Christmas is already over.  Time caught up with us and before we knew it, it was the Eve of Christmas Eve, and Teddy and I found ourselves at Oakbrook mall fighting with all the last minute shoppers our there.  Yes, we got 90% of our shopping done the day after Thanksgiving, but then didn't hit another store until December 23rd.  Oops!!  It was insanely crowded, but we divided and conquered getting the last gifts bought.  I think the traffic in and out of the mall was the toughest part.  It took close to 30 minutes to go 20 feet.  Serious gridlock.  That night we finished the food prep for the parties the next few days, finished up the wrapping and got some rest before all the activities ensued.

Here's a few pictures of our tree fully stocked with gifts.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we headed over to my mom and dad's.  They were hosting the extended family Christmas that night, and we were doing our immediate family gift exchange before everyone got there.  There were gifts galore.  We couldn't believe all we received this year.  Far too many pictures to include them all.

Teddy and I before getting started

One of my favorite gifts, the dessert plates for our every day dishes

Teddy and I also got rocking chairs for our front porch

A few outfits for relaxing and work

Then it was Sara and Michael's turn

Sara got the pasta roller for her kitchen aid.  Time to make more ravioli?

A fun cupcake book

And my favorite gift, to Michael, from me.  Yep, he decided to get funny in his Christmas list and asked for a mankini, and guess what, he got it!  His reaction was priceless.  And Sara's was pretty good as well.  I wonder if he modeled it for her later? 

Mom was next and she finally got a kitchen aid mixer, after all these years of cooking without one.  And she got the pasta maker too!

Sara made her an awesome calendar

Dad got a fishing hat and shirt, which he loved

He also got Dale Earnhardt's latest Wheaties box framed

And a bunch of new cars for his Disney train set

The dogs were also having a good time.  Porkchop especially was enjoying climbing all over me for some reason

Then since Sara got a new camera for Christmas, we thought we should take a nice family portrait.  This one turned out great, but I think the next one is more representative of our family.

Yep, that's us.  Hmm, maybe the Christmas card next year?

Then dad and I helped mom sauce the ribs before everyone arrived.  Yep, we had BBQ ribs for Christmas Eve dinner.  They were awesome

It wasn't long before the house was filled and we were all talking, eating and drinking.  The kids were finally happy when we all gathered in the living room for gift time!  I got another great gift from my aunts and uncles, some mini Le Cruset pots for individual pot pies, potatoes, etc. 

Christmas Eve was a great success, my mom threw another great holiday!

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, Teddy and I woke up to exchange some gifts before heading out to church.  Since we got each other the china cabinet for Christmas, we got eachother a few small things to open up on Christmas morning.  One of the things I got him was star wars pancake molds with chocolate, chocolate chip pancake mix.  So, I made us some pancakes that morning.

The molds were a little overfilled, but they tasted delicious. 

Then after church we headed up to Kris & Erica's house for the Christmas day festivities.  We arrived to find the family room had turned into the present pit. 

Look at all those gifts!!  Everyone was far too generous again.  I don't have a lot of pictures of the family opening gifts, my camera seemed to focus primarily on the cute kiddos.  But Teddy and I got so much wonderful stuff.  I got a ton of great board games, a Jim Shore statue for my garden to add to the Mickey and Minnie I already have, gift cards, ornaments, etc.  Teddy also made out getting everything Star wars and Lego (of course!)   The most fun though was watching Emily and Carson open their gifts.  Emily especially.  She was so overwhelmed with everything that she received, she didn't know where to begin!

Emily loves all things that transport people:  cars, planes, trains, buses, helicopters, etc.  So she got a lot of gifts along that theme.  (Also, check out those Buzz Lightyear PJ's.  They are the best!)

Beth and Kris helped her open all her gifts.  And then it was Carson's turn.

This was Carson's first Christmas, so he's still figuring it all out, but I think he loved all his new toys as well.

He especially liked his new hat.  Isn't he a cutie!

 After the kiddos were done with their gifts, the rest of the family opened up all of theirs.  Like I said earlier, I didn't have many pictures of the rest of the family.  The camera seemed to focus on the kids.  But here is one of Kris and Erica, our holiday hosts opening up their loot.

After all the gifts were opened Erica and Mom started working on dinner while, Teddy, Jennifer, Beth and I played Jennifer's new Harry Potter Lego game.  Dinner was awesome.  We had a great roast with potatoes, corn & peas, and Becky made an awesome rice casserole as well.  After dinner we watched some of Elf and the Lach clan went to work on a puzzle.  It was a great Christmas Day with family. 

We couldn't have been more blessed this Christmas, we hope that everyone else is as lucky as are to have been surrounded by family and friends the whole holiday.