Christmas Day

We came back from Perry Christmas Eve and got right to work!  Santa hadn't quite come and gone just yet so we were busy getting everything ready for his arrival.  We unloaded the car and poof - he had snuck in and snuck out without our even seeing him!  We finally got in the bed about 2 a.m. and slept good - when I woke up at 9:30 a.m., I looked over at Stewart and he was watching TV; I checked the clock and said, "Have you heard the kids yet?"  "No, they are still sleeping!"  And sleeping they did ... until about 10:00 a.m.  It was fantastic!  They woke up so excited!  Ian peered out of their bedroom door and saw the remnants of Bonner's gifts since they were sitting out towards the hallway - he immediately said, "Santa!"  So cute!  I'll try to post some videos at some point!

 Santa brought Bonner a Baby Doll and some accessories!

 Since our family Christmas tree is out on the porch and it's so darn cold out there, Santa brought there gifts and put them in front of their 2 little trees!

You can barely see, but there's a camera made out of legos smack-dab in the middle of Ian's stuff from Santa.  That's all he asked Santa to bring him and he loves it!  Santa thought it might be fun to bring him some Toy Story friends, too, because he loves that movie!  And, Santa was right - he won't go anywhere without Woody & Rex now!

 Our great neighbors made us a delicious breakfast casserole - we all loved it, especially Ian!

 The 1st gift Bonner wanted to open was a ballerina outfit and slippers.  It's hard to tell where her leotard ends and her legs start since they are so white!  Aunt Taylor & Uncle Justin came over in the morning to celebrate with us - they gave Bonner this cute little tea set that changes colors when you put cold water in it.  Needless to say, we used alot of water throughout the day :-)

 Aunt Taylor & Uncle Justin gave Ian this remote-controlled firetruck - oh my goodness, he LOVES it!  Woke up first thing this morning looking for it!  It's really cute and super-easy to control which means that mommy and daddy really like it, too!

 Gigi gave each kiddo a book that reads them 3 songs - of course, Bonner's books are all about princesses and Ian's, Elmo and the Sesame Street gang.  They were really good about playing with each toy they opened for a good long time ... I know the time will come when they just want to rip into each of them, but for now, I relish in the fact that they are somewhat appreciative!

 Ian got some binoculars - so funny watch him try to focus on something with them!

 Our other neighbors, the Anderson's, brought over yummy cookies and these cute pj's for the kids!  Can you say, "Perfect gift!"  Both children insisted that they be able to wear them immediately.  In fact, Bonner just wanted to wear hers over the new leotard!

 And, they couldn't have picked a more appropriate pair for Ian - it was Woody all around this Christmas!  Is he not precious?

 They got these CD Players, too, that had 2 microphones so they can sing together!  I'll definitely try to post some videos because later in the night, we cranked up the Christmas music and they had a field day listening to "their music!"

 Bonner is always pretending to cut your hair, brush your hair, pull your hair ... you know, lots of things hair-related.  Well, when I found this Disney Princess salon kit that came with a hair dryer, curling iron, straightener, perfume bottle, curler, etc., I just couldn't resist.  And, Grandbuddy was a very good sport when Bonner wanted to "fix his hair!"

 Yes, that is a curler in his hair and her using a curling iron on him!  So cute!  I videotaped it, too; she insisted on him having lipstick on and perfume!  So funny!

 Ian asked if mommy and daddy would get him a train for Christmas.  Well, I got this train table and set about a year and a half ago - we had the train table downstairs collecting dust and had hidden the train in the garage for just the right moment.  Well, Christmas 2010 was that moment.  It took Uncle Justin and daddy some finagling, but they finally got the train set put together on the awkward table.  Ian loves it!

 And, as much as Ian's Christmas was everything about Toy Story, Bonner's was everything about princesses ... she got a princess castle so that her princesses "have somewhere to sleep"!  She played with it for quite a while, too!  Her new Sleeping Beauty really seemed to enjoy it :-)

 And, after an exciting day of opening presents, eating lots of food, and hanging out with family, we took some time to remember what we were really celebrating.  Stewart got out his granddaddy's bible and read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  We then lit 2 candles on a little birthday cake for Jesus and sang him, "Happy Birthday!"  The kids were so sweet.  I got it on video, too, so I'll try to get it posted!  I'm amazed that they can sing that whole song all by themselves!

And, of course, Christmas isn't Christmas without snow ... SNOW?  Yes, that's right!  I experienced my first White Christmas ever!  It started falling about 3 p.m. or so and snowed all evening!  We probably got about 3 inches total.  My next post will be pictures from this morning's adventure in the snow!  I told the children that I had waited 35+ years to see snow on Christmas and they are already spoiled to think it just happens that way!

All and all, our Christmas was spectacular.  Santa was good to me; I got an iPad which I am very excited about ... gotta get a chance to figure out how to use it, but it seems really cool!  We just enjoyed each other's company; it was pretty relaxing as it took us all day to open our presents.  We didn't make a big fuss about food which was nice - we just took it all in with the children!  As Stewart said at the end of the night, "If it was this much fun this year, what's next year going to be like?"