Merry (the day after) Christmas!

Well, it is December 26th, Ryan has been playing with his new Guitar Hero Wii game all night, the toy boxes have been put in the trash, the new toys have been put in rooms, and I can't believe Christmas is already over!
We had a wonderful day here. It was our first Christmas at "home" with just our family so it was pretty special for us. We would have loved to be with grandparents but it was so nice to start our family traditions and have Avery wake up in her own house to see what Santa brought her.
We went to church Christmas Eve and that was nice to bring us back to focus on how this holiday is so much bigger than the presents we get and give. Now that I'm a mother and have experienced childbirth 2 times, hearing what Mary had to go through with only Joseph, in a strange town has a new meaning for me. Jesus' gift of his life really is the reason our family celebrates this holiday and I hope that Ryan and I are able to make Avery and Isabel as excited about that as they are for their gifts!
Speaking of gifts we sure did get a lot of those. Ryan got me a new North Face jacket, some North Face clothes and other little things. Ryan got MarioKart and more controllers for his Wii so we can play the games together. Avery got an outdoor play house, workbench, 2-wheeled scooter, Diego Wii game and Isabel got a few little toys. It was a lot and we sure are lucky so many people thought of us.
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday!


Getting ready for the big day!

Showing off the cookies and carrots we left out for Santa and the reindeer.



Me and my girls in our Christmas pajama's!

The house after Avery went to sleep and the toys were out.

Avery checking out her new house. She thought it was great.


Checking out to see if Santa and the reindeer ate their treats. They did!!


Avery taking off on her scooter.

Isabel trying to get in on the fun.


Oooh, this is neat...

Avery opening her new Black and Decker workbench.

Ryan's playing his new MarioKart on the Wii.


The process of putting the new toys together...

Avery's newest artwork with her bathtub crayons.

I have no idea why my kids do this but Avery did it too. If you look hard enough you will see that she is doing sit-ups. It is so funny.

Look at this happy face. This is the face that I get nearly every morning that I wake this little girl up.

I had to get a picture of this. Avery put a bowl out for her elephants to get something to eat.

Avery's room with all her new toys.

The house after the chaos.