Christmas Recap

It's time to post the Christmas pictures. Bear with me, as they are all out of order and the layout is, um, wierd today. I'm not going to take the time to fix it. First up, we have the kids posing before church on the Sunday before Christmas. I couldn't get a serious photo...and I can hear my grandma cringing at Samantha's shoes (they are brown). "Every little girl needs black patent leather mary jane's for church!"

Next, we have Sam in her Christmas dress finery. I think she looks pretty ridiculous, but I had to pass down EmJ's dress.

This is what we came home to after church two weeks ago. Tell me, how does a water blister just magicaly appear in the middle of your wall? We went up into the attic and there is no water anywhere? If the skylight was leaking wouldn't there be water all down the ceiling? Crazy. Gross. This house needs to be bombed and rebuilt. It's falling down around us.

I wasn't going to showcase our pathetic little tree on the blog, but this photo of Benjamin warranted a little public humiliation. YOU WILL SMILE FOR THE PICTURE RIGHT NOW!!! (P.S. We later scored a big, beautiful, and 100% free Christmas tree. Love it!)

After the morning Christmas festivities at my parents' house, we headed to Luke's parents' house. Naturally, I enjoyed the chaos too much to take many pictures. Oh, well. Here's EmJ with her grandparents. Cool headband, sista!

Santa dropped off a few unexpected gifts this year...off the roof and onto the porch. It was a highlight for all of us...especially these nerf guns. Since Christmas, all the bullets have been lost, bitten in half, or likewise mutilated.

Brotherly love. Benjamin was totally grateful for the dollar store archery set Joshua picked out for him.

A new Ligthening McQueen bike!!!!! What more could he ask for?!

The kids at our house on Christmas Eve, showing off their new jammies. Benjamin was a little bit happier to be taking this picture!

We decided our family is big enough to act out the nativity. Sam was an angel, and took her role very seriously.

EmJ and cousins opening gifts at Luke's parents' house. Grandma made Christmas and Halloween pillowcases for each of the cousins. Such a cool idea!

Another Christmas highlight was the boys' shotguns. They have played with all their new weapons non-stop since Christmas.

EmJ reading with her new booklight! That's my kind of Christmas!

An Easy-Bake oven! She has had a blast with this one.

Let's not forget Sam! Her Christmas consisted of babies, babies, and more babies. She is constantly begging to go "at-side, peeeeees" to take her babies for a walk in their "loller". Yesterday, she spent a good hour setting out a baby tea party or something. She kept bringing me the fake food containers..."it open me, peeees"...and I could hear her singing her catalog of songs over and over again to her babies..."l-0-p," "the wock," "dories, dories," "sowders, knees, and does," "tile Dod," and "wosies, ashes, all wall down!"

(Did you get all that?!)

And that's it! We had a wonderful Christmas and we are more than thrilled to be headed into 2010!