Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was a special and memorable one for us--it was our first with Luke and the first one I've ever hosted! Instead to traveling to Kentucky, we stayed HOME for the first time since we've been married. (It was so fun not to have to travel or pack, unload, and re-pack the car several times!) Corey's parents and my parents along with my nephew all came up to Indy for the holidays. I loved coming downstairs and hearing all of the voices in my living room. I loved waking up Christmas morning in my own bed, watching the kids open gifts under our tree, making Christmas dinner, and creating new memories. I'm already looking forward to next year!

A few things I don't want to forget about this Christmas are the favorite gifts from this year, opening "the big red one," and Drew's candy canes. The first thing the kids did on Christmas morning was open their stockings, and each stocking had several candy canes sticking out of the top. Drew was more than excited about his candy canes! He had one in each hand and wouldn't put them down. It was hilarious to watch him figure out how he was going to open his first gift without letting go of his new favorite treat! (Who knew we could have just given the kid candy canes and called it a day?) :) One of the most talked about gifts was "the big red one," which happened to be a basketball goal. The other top favorites from this year were the dart guns, talking Woody, the spaceship, and Ty's "Kindle." It's actually a V-Reader but he likes to call it a Kindle since Mommy has one too (which was one of my favorites this year).

Finally, Christmas 2010 was special because we talked a lot with the kids about it being Jesus' birthday and why we give and get gifts--Jesus was SO special that even KINGS brought Him gifts! And because His is the MOST important birthday of anyone ever, EVERYONE shares presents with EVERYONE all over the WHOLE world! That's how special His birthday is! I hope to be more creative over the years in celebrating Jesus' birth and creating family traditions and memories. I'd love to hear any thoughts or ideas if you'd be willing share! :)

We also had our first Christmas Eve service at our church...at 10:00 PM. It was late for our little ones but such a sweet evening. We sang Christmas carols and our pastor (Corey) talked about the Prince of Peace. It was special and memorable for all of us!

Christmas 2010 in pictures

checking out one of their gifts

dimples

Drew's candy canes

Nonna and Luke

love Ty's face in this one

cousins

talking Woody--one of the favs

playing in the snow

"Baby Bear"

Nonna and Poppa with their grandkids

Mimi and Grandpa with the grands

snuggle puppies

Merry Christmas!

Funny story: So, this is our 2010 Christmas card. Just to preface this a little bit...Corey hates taking family pictures. I can't really blame him. The kids are often uncooperative, someone is usually crying, and bribing them with candy doesn't always work. I, however, always have this idea in my head that it's going to be smooth and easy. It took several (that's an understatement) tries to get it (because of someone not looking at the camera, an awkward smile, etc). We finally got a good picture of everyone except for Luke who was totally pooping--grunting, squeezing, red face, etc--and since this was his debut (confession: I didn't send out birth announcements--terrible mom!), I couldn't have him pooping! So, I downloaded a trial version of photo shop (I was really committed to this thing) and then photo-shopped a different head of Luke's from another picture onto his body! Because I'm not very tech-savvy, it took hours and Corey kept asking me, "Is this really worth it?" Yes! It is! :) Merry Christmas 2010 from all five of us!

my boys

I love them more than anything in the world!!!

3 months

Someone loves his thumb.