Christmas!

This year was a whirlwind!  It was really fun, and everyone was healthy so that was all we could hope for.  We had Christmas Eve at Nannie and Papa's house with Brandon's family- so 7 kids opening presents at once.  A lot going on, but it was fun to be right in the middle of it.  The Hammitt/ Gray clan joined, too.  Lots of presents and love to go around. :)

Each of the kids and us big kids, too, got one of these big bags full of toys and clothes!  Every year Nannie says she's going to cut back, but we haven't seen any evidence of that yet. ;-) 

Sometimes it's the little things!  Nannie found a tube full of mini instruments for Anderson- he loved them!

Of course cars for Brady!  Some of the "big" boys were a little jealous of these.  ;-)

Charlotte was very happy with her "Let it go!"

This one will be fun to recreate in 10 years...

Daniel and Anderson being goofy as usual... 

We got home in time to leave cookies out for Santa and get the boys in bed for...

 CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Anderson was most excited about his instruments.  His favorite instrument from what I can tell was his trumpet (not in this picture).  It's pretty cool because he has to blow into it while pressing one of the keys in order to make a sound, so a little closer to the real thing.  Anderson loves it, even though he matter-of-factly said that it sounds a little more like a bass clarinet. Ha.

1st Christmas!

Colby was excited because this had flashy lights and sang songs to him!

This guy had excellent present-opening-stamina.  He is really good about presents- acts excited, checks it out, and is then interested to open more.  Lots of, "I love it!"s.

The first present Brady opened was not trains (which he had asked for over and over and over!)  He was visibly disappointed and said, "I want James and Percy."  We tried the big box next, and to everyone's delight found a set of 6 Thomas TrackMaster trains.  Brady was very relieved and held onto those trains pretty much all day. 

Both big boys opened some super heroes, and Brady also got a little barn-box with some farm animals.  A few resembled the animals on grandma and grandpa's little farm.

Checking out the goods.

I love this picture!  His real, sweet smile. :)

Presents everywhere!

In the family room, the boys each got to open presents from Mommy and Daddy and other family members.  Colby will like this toy even better once he can crawl around (it's several different play-stations connected together).  Brady got Blaze and the Monster Machines trucks and a track.  Anderson got a Hot Wheels track and some Hot Wheels cars.  Both were excited about those, too!

I also had a stocking full waiting for me in the family room- which I was not expecting at all!  Ryan got me a beautiful Pandora bracelet with lots of charms- one for each of the boys, Mickey and Minnie (which makes me think of the two of us), Washington Nationals, and the Bible.  All of my favorite things! :) Then we ate cinnamon rolls, had a little visit with Nannie and Papa, and got ready to head over to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  

They were all (Lauren, Kyle, and Great-Grandma, too) waiting for us with an arsenal of plush snowballs to throw at us.  Anderson LOVED playing snowball fight- he wanted to all day long, which for the most part he did.  Brady got in on the action, too, when he wasn't too busy with toys.

 We all opened lots and lots of presents (no photos of this)- Brady got quite a few big, cool dinosaurs (even a dinosaur train), binoculars, an awesome personalized book about Brady and Batman, and a lot more... Anderson got a talking, teaching microscope, a magic kit, a Super Anderson book, and lots more... Colby got a fun car that he can sit and play in (also his brothers like to sit in it and play in it), a couple of fun LeapFrog toys, and a Colby Pirate book and more.  Lauren and Kyle got the big boys these neat kits that are full of activities and games for the boys based on their age.  We really started looking into them today, and they are very cool!

During the boys' rest times, all of us big kids got our stocking stuffers.  Mom always gets us nifty gadgety things- this years highlights included light-up beanie caps for the guys (Kyle is modeling above), elaborate shower caps for the girls (Grandma's is a crown, mine is a cupcake, Lauren's a raspberry), and Yeti cups for the under-65 crowd.

That evening, we had a lovely, yummy crab cake dinner, gave the boys baths, and headed home.  Tired, but happy.

Anderson dazzled us with his magic tricks throughout the day!

After-bath snuggles with Great Grandma

The big boys relaxin in their new PJs and robes.