HO HO HO! Merry Christmas everyone! It is hard to believe that all of the planning, baking, shopping, and anticipation is now over. We made many amazing memories over the past two weekends! Our week began with a visit from Santa at Jo's house. True to form...Mason wasn't too thrilled with Santa! Both boys received very nice gifts from Santa, and Santa even got a gift from us...sugar cookies! (Santa only agreed to come if I would make him cookies and if Jo would get him a Diet Coke!)
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| Zane with Santa |
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| Mason with Santa...poor kid! |
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| Jo's kids...Nora, Lawson, Landon, Sam, Madelyn, Ryan, Mason, Zane (Braeden missing...crying) |
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| Zane, Santa, and Mason (scared...but posing!) |
The rest of the week was busy, and a little crazy at school...I could tell the kids were ready for a break (um, and so was I)! We went to school until Thursday at noon. I picked Mason up and we ate lunch with Mary, Madelyn, and Nora. Then we picked Zane up and headed home. Matt has been working a lot of hours lately...sometimes until 2:00 in the morning, so it was nice that he actually came home at a "normal" time Thursday! We were all anxious to spend Friday (Christmas Eve) together!
Friday we spent getting last-minute gifts, groceries, and cooking some things for Christmas Eve dinner. My parents and Adam were coming down to spend Christmas Eve/morning with us, so we decided to cook a prime rib. It was our first one...and I must say it turned out amazingly well! I told Matt if we keep cooking meals this good, we're always going to have to be the ones that cook! Mom, Dad, and Adam got here about 5:30, so we ate, then headed to church. The boys did really good for about 30 minutes...then the second half of church was spent in the lobby. Zane and I snuck back in for the end so we could light a candle. He really enjoyed that part! I snuck a couple of pictures of him during that time! He raised his candle when everyone else did...I got a couple of tears in my eyes seeing that! After church, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights around town, then headed home to put cookies, milk, and carrots out for Santa and the reindeer. Zane was a little sad because he knew that Buzz wouldn't be there in the morning, as Santa takes his elves back on Christmas Eve night. So we had to tell Buzz good-bye, and Zane even drew a picture for him! I have to admit, I miss the little elf also!
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| Zane at Christmas Eve service |
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| Dad reading a story to the boys (while Mason poses for the camera) |
Santa managed to find our house! We couldn't believe he snuck right by Adam, who was sleeping in the living room! Zane woke up about 7:30 and went downstairs first. I could hear him wake Adam up and knew he would soon be in to get us. I heard him running up the stairs, and the next thing I heard was him running into our door and falling on the ground. He hit the door HARD because he had a huge mark right above his eye! Not a good start to our Christmas morning! Lucky for us that was the only bad thing that happened and the rest of the day was great! The boys got lots of great new things and both were very excited the whole time!
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| Santa came! |
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| Stockings |
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| Before opening gifts...I was trying to get them to show their ages... |
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| "Boys, sit by the tree..." Okay mom, can we open presents? |
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| Happy dance...I got a blue triples tractor! |
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| Mom and Zane |
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| Mom and Dad... |
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| "CHEESE!" |
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| What did you get Matt? Oh, cologne! |
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| A DS! Just what I wanted! |
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| The aftermath... |
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| Our amazing boys |
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| Cuties! |
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| Mason with his goods |
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| Zane with his goods |
After we opened gifts, the boys played awhile, then we put Mason down for a nap. Everyone ate a small lunch, then Mom, Dad, and Adam headed back home. We got everything packed to head back to Iowa and then woke Mason up so we could head that way. We left in plenty of time but had to come back to unhook something at home, then had to stop at Walgreen's because I forgot diapers and wipes! We ended up being about 10 minutes late, but dinner was ready as soon as we got there! We celebrate with the Beggs side of the family and had another amazing gathering!
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| Christmas at Grandma Beggs' |
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| Keaton and Zane, patiently waiting for presents |
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| The best shot I got of the 4 little ones... |
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| One of my best presents EVER! |
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| Mason with his new vet kit |
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| Zane's eye...while wrestling with Keaton he got a knee to the eye! |
Sunday morning we woke up and opened gifts with Matt's immediate family. Again, we were all terribly spoiled! It was so fun to watch the boys this year...they were very into opening gifts! Mason wanted to open EVERY package! He helped everyone with their presents, but noone seemed to mind!
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| Zane with his Touch N Brush! |
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| Papa, Mason, Grandma, & Zane |
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| Mason's new grocery cart...with baby in tow! |
After opening gifts there, we packed up and headed to Great Grandma/pa Baker's house. She cooked an amazing dinner, which we ate a ton of, then we had some down time for napping and relaxing. About 4:30, everyone was there, so we soon began opening gifts. It was a little crazy with the 4 boys...they had so much fun together! It was difficult to get them all in the same place to get a picture...so we did our best!
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| Zane & Porter...bunny ears! |
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| Tate, Zane, Mason, Porter...the best shot I got! |
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| Angels!?! |
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| Go Bearcats! |
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| Opening gifts |
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| Awarded "most stylish..." |
As I am posting this and reflecting on Christmas 2010, I am reminded of how lucky we are to have such amazing families! They do so much for us (and give us so much...seriously you should see the piles here)! Even though it is hard to juggle 6 different gatherings each holiday, we are BLESSED to have so many families that love to spend time together! I hope that all of you were also able to create wonderful memories with your families!
And great news...my cousin Brian proposed to Heidi! We already adore Heidi, and are so excited she will be an "official" member of the family soon! So happy for both of you!
Merry Christmas everyone!
