Getting cookies ready for Santa and we had to sample them to make sure he would like them

Santa brought all our Disney friends...and Mickey too (he wasn't found til the next morning)

All the prince and princess were hanging out at Cinderella's castle waiting for Baylor that morning. This is the replica of the castle at Walt Disney World. It has working lights and sound.

She was so excited to see it...this is what she asked Santa for

Christian checking it all out

Christian had asked Santa for this one special Transformer...and he got it:) :)

Christian hugging the Mickey Santa brought me

Baylor loved her Minnie...it's funny to see her try and pick it up

Checking out her stocking

Look a Wall-E!!!

Baylor LOVED her Cinderella dress and has been wearing it everyday

Presents!!

Our family is so blessed with love and we always have fun being together. This Christmas was no different. The kids LOVED all their toys and us big kids got a few things to enjoy ourselves. The one that means the most to Jeff and I was very personal and took a lot of hard work. Over the summer Mom and Dad started working with the Wimpy's to create a new album of our wedding photos. We owned all the negatives and we had been so impressed with Kim's book the Wimpy's had done. They found some other pictures, our invitation and program to add to the book also. As you can see below, I was totally shocked. This was such a special gift and we will treasure it always. Jeff got a corn hole set!!! Now he just needs to decide what to paint it

Kim and I got these really funny hats from Estonia...they are a hat and scarf in one and we got really tickled by them for some reason. If you know us at all you know that once one of us starts it makes the other laugh more until we are both crying and just can't seem to stop:)

Daddy always get his girls something special...this year it was the open heart design (you know you've seen the commercial) from Kay Jewelers. He got Baylor a little bracelet that had a heart on it so she could be a part of the tradition

We (Jeff, the kids, me, Kim and Travis) all got Mom and Dad a hand painted tile of the house. It looks great and they were so surprised.

The kids got TONS of stuff. Movies, dress up stuff, dolls, action figures, clothes...you name it

Baylor DID NOT want anyone coming near her Cinderella Aqua Doodle. She got quite snippy about it and ended up getting in trouble b/c she just wasn't sounding nice at all.

Mim and Travis found her this toddler Cinderella that came with a crown for Baylor...She loved it of course

Foxy had to get in on the present action too

Christian has had BulkHead (a Transformer) on his list since this summer...he was super excited when he opened it.

Christmas Eve 2008

Before all the craziness started we had a little picture time. We're all dressed up for Otter Creek's first ever Christmas Eve service. It was good, but needed a few kinks worked out...you learn as you go. They had several kids help act out the Christmas story...which was cute. The best part was just taking the time to focus on what all this was supposed to be about.

This is as good as I got when it came to getting both kids to look at the camera

Travis regaled us with his piano playing. He played on his own and other times just started playing along with the radio...he's quit talented

Kim made Candy Cane sugar cookies...

aren't they cute?

Foxy came to visit too

The original four:)

Oh Jeff!!!

I told my hubby that he screws up so seldom that we have to milk it for all it's worth when he does. SO...

Jeff was cooking breakfast this morning and one of the items was sausage. (full disclosure: I did something similar, but not to this magnitude) Mom and Dad have a gas range and it is a little different to cook with, so the sausage cooked a lot faster then normal and smoked up the kitchen BIG TIME. Mom and Dad's smoke alarm is connected to the alarm system so everything starts going off. There are bells and whistles everywhere, so it was hard to hear the phone when the alarm company called. Since the call went to voice mail and the fire alarm was triggered guess who they had to call next?!?!


Here are the fire engines as they pull into the drive way. The kids loved it and we were all out on the porch to greet them, but Jeff wouldn't show his face. :) We apologized to the poor firefighters and they informed us that we were their 5th false alarm in the past 24 hours. At least your in the company of others honey...Merry Christmas

Today we delivered Tigger to his new home. He has been a part of our family for 8 years and I was a little sad to leave him. When we first brought him home he was like our baby...he slept with his body curled around my head:) As we began having our real children he got less and less attention. He doesn't get the love he deserves in our home anymore so it was time to say goodbye. A girl Jeff's mom works with has opened up her home and she'll be good to him. When we let him out of his carrier she said "I love him already" He nosed around the living room and then came to her to get some love. I'll miss him a little (and so will the kids) but he's better off in his new home.

Christian's last OC Christmas Program

The Kindergarten did their own program on Friday and it was Christian's last:(

They all looked cute and sounded even cuter:) They sang "Rudolph", "Must be Santa", "Up on the house top" and "Follow the Star"

Afterwards they had their party and gift exchange

Craziness of opening 18 presents at once

Christian received a Solar System puzzle that is over 4 feet long!!

Santa stopped by and we made sure he knew exactly what we wanted

Silly reindeer:)