A Very Merry Christmas

We were happy to have a white Christmas given the warm temps that we had earlier in the week.  On Christmas Eve we relaxed at home and made cookies and a gingerbread house.  I think Gracie ate more candy than she put on the house!  She tends to have a bit of a sweet-tooth.  

 

Here are a few pics from that night.  Grant was excited to leave a plate for Santa and the reindeer.

On Christmas morning we awoke around 7:30 to Grant in our room saying that he didn't think Santa came last night.  Lara and I went to the tree with him and he was excited to see that Santa did stop by our house.  We let him go through his stocking but made him wait for his sister to wake up to open the rest of his presents.  He waited patiently until she woke up at 8:30.

Usually we let Grace wake up a bit in her crib but on this day we grabbed her at the first sign of movement.  You can see she was still a bit sleepy.  Gracie was just as excited as her big brother to open presents.
  

Grant's favorite toy was his gumball machine.  He has been wanting one for a long time and was so excited to get it.

Gracie is crazy about babies and so one of her favorite toys was a new baby doll.

She also got a camping chair that she loves.

This is her falling out of the chair about a second after the last photo.  As is Gracie, she was still smiling and laughing after hitting the ground.  She is happy and tough!

Here are a few more pics of our Christmas morning.  The Duplo blocks you can see the kids playing with were a big hit with both Grant and Grace.  I thought Gracie might not enjoy them as much but she can sit by herself and spend a ton of time building.

This is Grant playing a new video game that he got for his LeapPad.  He has definitely hit an age where he loves video games.  I think he would play them all day if he were allowed.

We had such a great morning and then it was off to Grandma and Papa's to celebrate there.  We spent two nights and the kids really enjoyed it.  We had our gift exchange and a big Christmas dinner with all the family on the 25th, as usual.  Then I went hunting on the 26th so we all stayed another night and came home on the 27th.  Every time we have gotten in the car since then (for groceries etc.), Grace says,"going to Grama and Papa's?"      

 

We had such a great holiday season!  Both kids enjoyed seeing all our family and celebrating.  We hope that you too had happy holidays.

Christmas Travels

I am happy to finally be posting about our Christmas.  Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with our desktop computer (bad power supply) where our photos were saved.  It seems that we have fixed the problem and (after backing up all our photos and data!) we can now post again.

Our travels started with a trip to Bellefonte since we have so many good Christmas memories in that area.  We ate at Bellefonte Wok and drove through the Lights on the Lake in Altoona (a tradition for the years that we lived there).  Gracie absoultely loved the lights.  She kept yelling, "look, look at that" and then would grab Lara's face to turn it toward what she was looking at.  Grant enjoyed the lights too but actually fell asleep on the drive between dinner and the lights.  It took Lara 5 minutes to get him awake and he spent most of the drive through the light display regaining his consciousness.  

After driving through the lights we always stop at the gift shop where Lara buys an ornament, we look at the train display, and we look at Santa from afar.  Grant wanted to keep with tradition and not even go in Santa's room but Gracie said that she wanted to see Santa.  As you can see in the photo, Gracie wasn't too sure herself once she got close to Santa.  Neither kid said a word and Grant kept his distance the whole time.  Santa did give the kids a lollipop which happens to be Gracie's favorite candy.  It was the first time that Gracie met Santa.                  

Then it was off to the hotel.  Everyone in our crew (& especially Grant) loves spending the night in a hotel.  While we were at the light display he kept asking when we were going to get to the hotel and he was so excited when we got there.  Gracie stills sleeps in a crib and so when we travel we bring a pack-n-play for her to sleep in.  We forgot it on this trip and weren't sure how well she would sleep in a bed.  All four of us slept together in a king bed and much to our surprise, Gracie and Grant both went right to sleep.

The highlight of the hotel was definitely the pool.  It was the first time that Grant has really loved the pool and he could have stayed there forever.  Gracie was a little more tentative about it but also liked swimming.

After a night in the hotel it was off to Ohio to celebrate Christmas with Dad, Jason, Heather, Cody, and Carly.  The night that we got there Jason and Heather had his work Christmas party so it was just Lara, me, and the four kiddos.  Lara and I were amazed at the end of night when we told Cody and Carly it was bed time and they put themselves right in bed.  We spent 3 nights there and really enjoyed it.

Although Grant isn't showing it here, the kids had a blast together.

 

On Sunday night Cody played Joseph in the church's Christmas play.  He did a great job and I was glad that we were there to see it.  Carly, Grant, and Grace showed perfect behavior during the play.

Here's Grant and Grace after enjoying some post-show cookies and punch.

After the play we had an amazing dinner at a Japanese Steak House.  Then, the next morning it was off to Aunt Peggy and Aunt Connie's house.

Our holiday would not have been complete without a trip to little Washington.  We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  Connie is battling lung cancer and as such, it is a stressful time for both her and Peg.  We were happy that they could rearrange treatment schedules to make time for our visit.

Although greatly appreciated, the gifts we got certainly weren't necessary.  Grant's favorite was this remote controlled truck with light up wheels...

and Gracie's was this singing doll.

I had to include this photo of Grace because she never sucks her thumb.  It must have been that being in her great-grandma's house just made her feel comfy.

That concluded our pre-Christmas travels.  We got home the night before Christmas Eve and were thankful that the weather was warm and we didn't have to deal with any winter weather.  That is in sharp contrast to the weather tonight which is calling for 2-3 feet of snow in Buffalo and sub-zero temps!  We were so happy to celebrate with everyone.