M e r r y C h r i s t m a s ~

Christmas morning . . .
We awoke to the sounds of little feet ... pitter / patter down the hall, to our door ... and then a pause. Could it be that Dakoda remembered his promise to us that he would not wake us up in the morning? However, it was Christmas morning this morning and surely there could be an exception to the usual "rule". Nope, he ran off --- down the hall to Joshua's room. "JOSHUA, JOSHUA ... Santa was here, come quick." We got up and met them in the sunroom bright and early this morning ... I think it was 7:30 am. :) It was a beautiful morning, and I just felt so happy when I heard their little feet running to the tree.

"I want to open this one first Mommy and Daddy" ... his eyes filled with excitement as he lifted this very heavy box from under the tree. He learned how to write and spell his name in pre-school ... so he KNEW this one was for him!

Grama and Grampa sent a beautiful ornament again this year. Each year they send the kids a very special one. Dakoda got some cool coloring books too, and Joshua got a remote control helicopter that he's been flying all day! :) We heard ALL WEEK ... "Can I open the football that Aunt Carol and Uncle Bruce sent me?" LOL ... silly boy! He could see thru the wrapping paper, and begged for it everyday since it was in the 70's and sunny, and he wanted to play outside a lot. We are meanies though ... and made him wait. Even Nanny said we should let him open it, but we wanted to make them wait for Christmas morning this year. They did get one thing early. Nanny and Paps sent gift certificates for all of us to use at http://www.kiva.org/ It's an organization that lets you loan money to people who need it. Check it out! Thanks Nanny and Paps. :)
Aunt Carol and Uncle Bruce sent Bella a present too. This bunny hops around, and makes noises ... Bella LOVES it! She was barking up a storm when we put the batteries in. Miss Cassey gave Dakoda and Joshua really cool animals, and some fun games. I captured Dakoda giving his a hug when he first opened it. :) Joshua was excited when he first realized what this one was ... He has been asking for a Wii Fit for a while now. It is really cool. We all tried it today. There are many great balancing exercises that are good for anyone / any age. We all had fun today with this new toy. The downhill snow boarding is pretty neat too. Thank you to our families and friends, and of course Santa too for making this Christmas so special for our little guys. We love, and appreciate all of you so much. We'll send out individual notes soon ... but wanted to express our gratitude today. Thank you!!! It's been a fun Christmas. Christmas Eve ...

Karen, Nugget, Justin, Vicky, and Travis all came over to celebrate Christmas Eve with us. Karen made DELICIOUS enchilladas. We all played Rock Band for a while ... and ate some yummy desserts afterwards. Dennis made his famous "No-Bake" cookies, and I bought some Petite Fours (ha, ha, ha) from Tiffany's Bakery.
Dennis and I, and the boys had a really nice Christmas Eve ... A relaxing time with our friends.



Little Travis was walking and pulling himself up all around the house. Bella loved him. She gave him about a dozen kisses as soon as he arrived. He is really a cutie, and such a good baby! He was quite the little eater at dinner as he kept insisting he wanted more beans. LOL ... He is just precious, and Mommy and Daddy are wonderful with him. :) Merry Christmas little guy. Have fun at Nanny and Nugget's house.