Christmas Day

The kids were so good to sleep in for us this year!  Mom and Dad got to go to sleep earlier than usual, so Santa could come earlier.  We woke up fairly rested and ready to go.
This year Nana and Grandpa decided to do something different.  They got up and dressed, and came by to visit each of the families in the morning.  So for the first time, we got to stay at home for a little longer, hang out in our PJ's, play with our stuff, and show off our new toys to Nana and Grandpa.

Not surprisingly, Calla's favorite toy was a little jumping stick.  It twirls around with music playing, and you jump over the stick as it spins to you.  It was a little hard for her to time it just right, so she decided to run around and try to stay in front of the spinning stick.

Anika with more arts and crafts.  She loves to create.  I think her favorite present was probably her camera.  It's a real camera--none of the kid stuff.  We'll see how creative she can be with her pictures and videos.

Santa brought the family an xbox with kinect.  I have a feeling the boys are going to try to claim it as theirs....we'll have to make sure the girls get some play time in.  The boys spent the morning getting everything set up.  Too bad Santa forgot to bring an HDMI cable!  They ended up stealing the one from the blue ray player so they could play Minecraft to their heart's content.  Well, I guess not to their heart's content.  More like until Mom and Dad made them get up and get dressed to go visit with family.

Nana and Grandpa had a Christmas tree loaded with presents.  All the cousins sat around finding which one was theirs.  You can just feel the anticipation in the air.

The mad house as each kid took their turn unwrapping.  What a happy group of kids!

Growing up in Canada, my dad has fond memories of his wood toboggan.  My mom was so excited to find one for him this year.

The kids loved the box.

This year my parents are taking us all to Disney World for their 40th Anniversary.  As siblings, we decided to get together, and skip giving gifts to each other.  The cousins gave up their gifts to each other as well, and we got my parents one big gift together:  Recessed lighting for their kitchen.  They have been wanting to get rid of their panel lights for a long time now.  I love this picture:  telling them (through a poem) what their gift is.  What a great Christmas.