Christmas Day

Jesus's Birthday with all of our family! What a day!

Santa left quite a stash at our house...

Bree and Wade walked down together to see what Santa brought them

Notice Wade and Beau's matching PJ pants? Wade really wanted to match Daddy on Christmas.

As Wade scanned the pile of loot, he completely missed the big basketball hoop right up front. He literally walked around it without noticing.

He finally looked up and saw his big present!

And you can't have a hoop without a basketball!

 A floating cooler for Daddy to use at the lake.

Bree was happy with some lip gloss and a pack of dice!

An apple peeler for Wade and I to use in the kitchen. We love it!

Princess shoes!

Bree really wanted me to share her princess shoes, but they didn't quite fit.

The Benich crew joined us for gift opening and breakfast!

After a quick morning at home, we headed to Nathan and Michelle's for brunch. Lauren loving on Bree.

The big boys trying out their new video games, while the little boys watched

A remote control race car for Wade

Video game for Caleb

And a running shoe gift card for Beau!

Shawn and Angie's gift to Nonna was this family tree! What a great family keepsake.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was an eventful evening full of celebration, family, worship, food, and GAMES! 

We started the day at church for the family service. The kids took over the balcony and had the best view of the service...

Bree was trying to follow the good examples of her cousins with prayer hands...

Things got a little dangerous when the candles were lit...

Daddy had to intervene...

Dinner party @ Nonna & G.G.'s

Make your own ornament competition...

Alicia, Trent, and Trent's brother Phil (in town from NYC)

Throwing out food for the reindeer...

All the kids got special hats from G.G.

Wade is trying his best to accept a hug from Lauren...

Then the games began. Nonna was ready with a selection of Minute to Win It games for the little (and BIG kids). Throwing the marshmallow in the bucket...

(can you guess where Wade gets the habit of sticking out his tongue?)

When it was Brian's turn, the big boys started a marshmallow war...

Can you see the white blur of marshmallow hitting Brian's eye??

Beau is now hiding behind the couch...

Here they are celebrating later when they successfully landed a marshmallow in Brian's drink. No worries, Brian got his revenge later!

Bree got very concerned that G.G. is missing a finger. She said, "Oh NO!"

And then found him a replacement from the plastic kitchen supplies...

Next game, stacking the cups

This game we all had to draw the picture Nonna was describing while the paper plate stayed on our heads.

We ended the games with a death defying pinata. A note of warning: do not use a metal bat with 9 children (9 and under).

Cae's swing broke open the pinata and the kids scrambled for candy. He kept on swinging and almost cracked some skulls. Luckily no one was hurt and we all learned a valuable lesson: foam bats are a pinata's best friend.

Giggling playing jump rope with Sheesha!

The 7 grandkids. Don't they look like a Christmas Tree?

Bree was only happy if Sheesha stayed in the picture with her!