Visiting Grammy

Once we finally got there, we had a lot of fun at Grammy Jo and Bampa's house. Jake and Liz were there with their boys, and they had given my parents this fun corn bag tossing game. We spent several afternoons playing it.

Sareny was pretty good!

We set up a doubel elimination tournament, and these guys were watching a game. You can also see a large dark blue corn bag flying through the air in the above picture.

Sareny was excited when she got it in!

Keeley looked so adorable in her new outfit and headband.

The kids also had fun climbing around in bampa's woodpile.

Josh and Charlie are so cute!

And then I just wanted a couple more pictures of my cute little Keeley River!

Here you can see the game board that we were tossing at--Jake spent a lot of time making and painting it.

We all took some turns tossing the bag.

Grammy held both of her little grandbabies.

Then we stood the two cousins up by each other.

They were so cute! Keeley would try to talk to William, and after a couple of seconds, he would start crying. It was a strange delayed reaction.

William looked right at me and smiled, but KeeKee was not looking.

What cuties! Jake and Liz headed home on Saturday, but our family stuck around at grammy's house for a few more days.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning, the kids woke us up around 7:30, and they couldn't wait to see their gifts. Keith woke Keeley up because he didn't want her to miss out on the fun family time.

The kids always seem to go to sleep on Christmas Eve without putting their stockings out, so the next morning, they are never quite sure where to look for their stuff. Sareny was excited to get a karoake machine.

Finley looked at the stuff in her stocking for a while before realizing the cool castle on the floor was also hers.

Sareny got this cool teeny-bopper magazine, featuring One Direction.

Sareny and Isaac's school had a holiday gift shop, and I gave them money to buy some presents there. Isaac especially was so cute--he was so excited for what he got me. Earlier in the month, Keith asked him if they needed to go shopping to get something to go with what he bought me there, and Isaac said, "No, I know she will love it!" On Christmas morning, he searched under the tree to find my present, and then sat and watched me open it. I gotta say, I was pretty excited to open it and see what it was!

It was a giant pink gem! I honestly don't think I have ever gotten a present that I love more than that one. What a sweet boy to plan so carefully for his mommy. I am always going to keep and treasure that jewel.
Isaac had also drawn Finley's name in our family drawing, and he searched to find his present to her and then wanted to watch her open that too.

Sareny and Finley both got dresses from Grandma Nancy, and Sareny was excited that hers was red. Actually, Keeley got a gorgeous dress from Grandma Nancy too, only I don't have a picture of it.

Finley got these adorable boots from mommy and daddy.

And then we were down to the last present. Isaac was acting a little bit naughty, and not too excited to open his last gift.

.

Until he opened it up and saw that it was exactly what he was hoping for--an ipod touch!

Then he was a pretty happy boy.

After letting the dust fly from all the new gifts, the kids immediatly started trying out the new stuff. Isaac and Sareny both got these dinosaur excavation kits that came complete with goggles, and they all looked so cute!

The kids had fun trying to get the bones out.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up from the melee of Christmas morning, playing with new stuff, and Keith and I worked on a puzzle. I had forgotten that we like to do puzzles together! It was a really nice, relaxing Christmas day.
Unfortunately, when I tucked Sareny in bed that evening she told me her throat hurt, and she ended up having strep throat. Isaac was just getting over pink eye, which Finley ended up with on Christmas as well. I couldn't believe we had two of the most contagious illnesses in our house on Christmas day! If you say either of those ailments, people will run the other way. We had planned on going up to Grammy Jo's house on the 26th, but had to delay til the 27th so everybody could get on medication.

Christmas Eve, or, Santa Baby

The tradition of doing Santa in on Christmas Eve extends far back to my childhood. I'm pretty sure my mom didn't have "doing Santa in" in mind when she crafted the first Santa pinata, but as kids, we took it and ran with it. I made my very first Santa pinata this year, and I thought it turned out pretty cute, and not too far off the original model. The kids had fun wildly swinging the bat around.

Keith has devised this off the balcony method of moving the pinata.

Sareny gives a cute smile before she gets her game face on.

 We had a fun time bashing the pinata. In the evening, we headed over to our friend's the Jankowski's house for food and fun. We were supposed to bring an appetizer and a dessert. We brought poppyseed bread and baklava for dessert. I'm not sure why, but I was craving some baklava, so I found a recipe online and tried it out. It was so scrumptious!

For our appetizer, we brought bacon-wrapped lil smokies with brown sugar and liquid smoke. So good! I felt a little strange bringing this dish to my vegetarian friend's house, and the pecan and pistachio filled baklava when her little girl is allergic to tree nuts...We didn't take home any lil smokies, but everyone took a ton of dessert home with them. Which is why I ended up eating most of the baklava by myself over the next couple of days, and why I must never make baklava again. :( So sad.

Here is our cute little Santa Baby all dressed up and ready to go to the Christmas party!

I bought this dress for Sareny when she was a baby at Mervyn's, which of course no longer exists. Keeley looks so adorable in it!

We had a lot of fun at the Christmas Eve party. There were some fun trivia games with a prize for the winner, lots of good food, and fun people to hang out with. We tied for first at the trivia game, but the next round involved some physical challenges, and somehow we didn't win! Oh well, it was a lot of fun trying.

We had such a fun Christmas with our little family!