MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did. :) I knew Avery wasn't going to wake up till 10...which meant her nap would be at 1. and we wouldn't be to Christmas dinner till...well after dinner. :p So I woke her up around 8:30 she surprisingly woke up all grins and hugs. I changed her diaper and we went into our bedroom to open up some of our gifts to each other. After that we headed upstairs to see what Santa got us. :) Avery was doing really well...until she spied something through the railings she had to go up a few more stairs just to make sure and yup...SANTA CAME. :p She sat with her little head resting on the railing just staring before she actually came the rest of the way upstairs. She went right to her rocking horse and was so happy about it. Till daddy put her on the horse. She did NOT like that. She was pretty scared and it took James awhile to get her to ease up on her hold on him. when she finally did that's when she looked over and saw her stocking and her little people klip klop stable. :) She was so excited. You'll see the sheer joy in her face in the picture I'll post. :p she played with it for awhile and it took some convincing to open her other gifts. but once she realized there was more she tore into all of them pretty good. She kept saying thank you and then followed that up with a "please open". :) It was so dang cute to watch her and see her cute little face light up with each new thing. She loved it all and was one very happy girl. James and I had a nice Christmas too. James got me some new storage items for my jewelry making and a new ipod touch :D. I'm so excited to have an ipod again. my other one died this summer and it has been a pain having to haul around the laptop to listen to my audio books. so yeah I'm excited. :) I didn't get James anything as big as an ipod. But he seemed to enjoy what I got him. He got a few movies that he likes, the game he has been wanting (and almost bought for himself twice, after I already had it hidden away). He also got the 1st season to Home Improvement which he has been talking about wanting to get for a couple years now. We also got gift cards from my sister in law and brother. (THANK YOU!) Avery got a baby doll and a puzzle from her cousin. It's so cute to watch her snuggle her doll and say "aww baby." :) She loves the puzzle too. She doesn't quite get the concept of the puzzle but she will. :) Avery also got some cute slippers, a hat and some cute crocheted animals from her grandma and grandpa Earl. She got to Skype them to say thanks. :) James and I got a DUTCH OVEN!!!! From my mom and dad. I already have my first recipe in mind for tomorrow. But James and I need to go buy a chimney to start the briquettes. Anyway Thank You Again Everyone! After presents and breakfast it was time for Avery's nap. Which she protested loudly...for about 15 min. :p While she slept James and I had some down time and then got ready to head out for dinner. We had to wake Avery up from her nap again (which she wasn't to happy about) to head over to my sister in law Nikki's house for games, food and fun. :) We exchanged gifts there as well. We had drawn our nephews Nate and Ethan. So we got Nate a new "manly" watch and Ethan a remote control Dusty from the movies Planes. Avery got some super cute and much needed clothes from her aunt Nikki and uncle Justin. The rest of the night was just relaxing, playing games and enjoying each others company. Oh and trying to keep Avery from hitting the twins. I just don't understand why she likes to do that. Overall it was a nice relaxing and fun Christmas. :) Here are some pictures of our fun day.

Christmas Eve

Not only is Christmas Eve...well Christmas Eve. But it's also Bob's birthday. So we like to celebrate that as well. This year everyone had to work. So we got started a little late. We had dinner (beef wellingtons) and then had the kids open up their Christmas jammies. Mom A. did something kinda fun. She told the kids that she didnt label who they belong to, so they would just have to figure out who they belong to. So Abby opened one and it turned out it was Ethan's Than Nate opened one and found Gavin's. Then Gavin opened one and found Avery's The twins some how opened each others and Avery opened the last one which was Abby's. I think they had a lot of fun with it. After all the jammies were opened they kids went and put them on and got ready to watch Bob open his gifts. After gifts we had an ice cream cake for Bob's Birthday while Nikki started cooking sausage for Christmas breakfast. So while she did that we had the ice cream cake and watched the rockettes christmas special. While we were there watching the doorbell rang. I thought it might be a late delivery from Fed Ex or something. But no one was there but  a present was left on the doorstep. It was to James and I. Before we even decided if we should open it. James ripped off the wrapping to find  a box with a book called the Christmas Jar and a jar...full of money. At first I thought it wasnt real but it was. James was looking at it and i noticed there was a $10 bill mixed with all the $1's and change. Then i got to looking at it and noticed something weird. i told James he wasnt going to believe it. I took out what I thought was the $10 bill but it wasnt. it was $100. I couldnt believe it. I didnt know what to feel I was so grateful, yet I felt bad Because I felt like we didnt really deserve it. i was very conflicted. Nikki said she knew how I was feeling because somebody did that for them one year and she didnt quite know how to feel either. She said "just be grateful and when you can return the favor to someone else." it was such an emotional thing that I had to excuse myself for a little while. We dont know who gave us the Christmas Jar but if you happen to be reading this THANK YOU!!!! I cant even begin to express my gratitude for your loving and generous gift to our little family. so just....THANK YOU! :D After the rockettes, christmas jar and the sausage was cooked it was getting really late so we started to try and get the kids all calmed down and ready to go home and get to bed. Abby, Bob and James had a little musical performance prepared. At first Bob and James played their guitars while Abby and Gavin sang Away in a manger. Then Abby, Bob and James played Jingle Bells and the overture to Ode to Joy. Bob and James played on their guitars and Abby on her violin. After, we gathered all the kids around and Nikki read a story. After the story it was bedtime. Since we were already home James and I got Avery ready andput her to bed. while Nikki was packing up all their stuff and getting her kids in the car to go home and go to bed too.
******SPOILER WARNING YOUNG KIDS DONT READ PAST THIS POINT!!!!******
After Avery was in bed she likes to know someone is downstairs with her. So James or I will stay downstairs and watch a show or play a game while Avery falls asleep. So I decided to watch Pride and Prejudice while I got gifts wrapped and ready. (it kinda a tradition to watch pride and prejudice while wrapping gifts) So I got all the gifts wrapped and all the stocking stuffers ready. After I knew Avery was asleep I went upstairs to see if Nikki and her kids were still here. They were gone so I brought up all the gifts and James and i started putting stuff together and getting things ready while we watched the George C Scott version of A Christmas Carol with Bob. It was a great night...but I was happy to go to bed. :D Here are pictures of our night.