Merry Christmas 2012!

 ...And a Happy New Year, eh? Happy 2013!

Back to Christmas Day. That morning, we woke up and the kids were thrilled to see that Santa had come! We had our own little family time and opened our presents before everyone else arrived at my mom's house. It was great to see the thrill on each of their faces as they opened their presents. This was by far the best year yet. Last year we were in Ecuador and I think that Christmas will be a really special memory for a long time because of what it represents, but this year was more traditional and Hallie is old enough to get excited and to understand what is going on, so that made it that much more exciting.

Hallie and Jace got these little Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals with a note from Santa telling them that they get to go to Disneyland! Wahooooo! 

Flor got an Ipad from Santa! She uses an Ipad at school all the time and is quite good with it. We need to get with her teachers and get a list so that we can use the same apps, etc. (As for Disneyland, Santa knew that it would not be a lot of fun for Flor and too much stimulation, so she gets to visit Grandma and Grandpa for the week instead! Disneyland is next week by the way-- can't wait!)

You know you are getting old when you get canning supplies and  books from your in-laws and it is really, really exciting. Can't wait to put that stuff to use!

Darling pillowcases from Grandma Perry

Let's not comment on how fantastic I look-- but instead focus on what my sweet husband had made for me. I had no idea that he had done this. So thoughtful.

Soon, the rest of the family arrived and we had a massive and delicious breakfast before diving into opening presents again. There can  never be too many rounds of presents, right? (Okay, maybe there can be-- but it was great fun).

Grandkids minus Brookie who was sleeping and baby Claire who has yet to be born (but soon, right, Lara!?)

Clark and his girlfriend Sarah. This was the first time we have met her too and she was really nice and seems to be a great fit for Sparky.

We also had two of my mom's brothers there, David from Minnesota and Craig from Texas (who you can see in the background of this picture on the left). We don't see these two uncles very often, so it was a lot of fun to have them there. 

Thanking Grandma for her presents. (Thanks to Lara by the way for all the good quality pictures. They are all from her). 

The girls loved these new sleeping bags from Grandma. We had a good laugh about the names inscribed on them. "Aubrey" and "Caroline". haha...

 After the festivities at my mom's wound down, we headed up to Grandma Clark's house for another round of food and presents. This is what I love about Christmas. Everyone I love all together celebrating and enjoying one another's company. Our meal at Grandma's has changed over the years and we currently do a soup bar, which is easy and great, but the one thing that has never changed....

...is the Candy canes in our Sprite (ahem- Diet Sprite). It would not be Christmas without candy canes in our Sprite. It just would not.

Charlie and Linda get to be "there" with us too. 

Craig, Flor, and Hailie awaiting the much anticipated opening of gifts

Present time! These two are the next generation of Che' and I apparently. We always sat in the same chair, every year, together, and cheered and got rambunctious during the opening of presents. It warms my little heart to see the next generation sharing the same closeness. 

Oh, where'd this come from? Random spot for it-- but too pretty to not include. My Grandma's house overlooks the Snake River and the view never gets old. 

Santa's helpers ready to distribute gifts

And Santa doing his duty with a little help from Flor 

One of my favorite pictures from the day. Sue and Grandma modeling their new aprons. Too cute.

And by far the best present of the day....Carlie opened this t-shirt from Mari Ann and the rest of us threw off our previous clothing to reveal matching shirts. It was so great...her face was classic. The shirts say, "You Serious, Clark?" as a nod to our family's favorite holiday (or anytime) movie (Christmas Vacation).

Carlie also got this sweatshirt. Also from Christmas Vacay. 

Cute and happy Santa girl!

Lynn's present was a close second on the funny. He had Clark and had  wrapped 5 individual presents, each with a  classic college food item with money taped to it. The first was spam...but really, who eats that?! I can honestly say that I have never eaten spam, even in my poorest of college days. YUCK!

Jace borrowed Jack's cowboy hat and was looking pretty cute. (As a side note, do you notice that we like to use similar names in our family? We have a Hailie and a Hallie, a Jace and a Jack, a Carlie and a Charlie (and soon to be a Claire), a Houston and a Hudson... we obviously all have great taste.) 

These four were all born within 9 months of each other, so it is fun to watch them grow up together. Hals, Sadie, Jack, and Max.

We must have just been getting there, thus the coats?

Also a favorite picture from the day. Too cute.

Who needs presents when we can be entertained by the laundry basket?

Christmas Evening we also went sledding down the hill outside of Grandma's house and had a blast. We went again the next day, so I am just going to combine those pictures into the last post of the Christmas series. I know you will be relieved when we are done with this, but not to worry, now we need to cover New Year's too. :)