Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning, Jude was up at his usual time of about 6:45. So we got to enjoy a couple hours of staring at this:

Sometime between the time everyone went to bed and when we woke up, Santa had come and left behind a wonderland of gifts. Jason, Amy, and Stephen were pretty oblivious:

Finally, after everyone woke up and most people had a shower, we all lined up. 

Wait, wait... that was like 1999. Okay, here we go:

Jude was excited about his first Christmas. Actually, I think he was just excited because everyone else was. He really had no idea what was going on.

Mom starting to hand out the gifts. I guess we'll never really outgrow Christmas morning.

Jude sort-of understood opening gifts but lost interest really quick. We ended up saving a couple of his gifts to give him at his Birthday. Good thing he's too young to understand.

Amy gave everyone these amazing containers. She hand-painted each one based on the individual (i.e. Chad's had NYC's skyline, Stephen's had the 'Y' from BYU and the fight song painted, Jason's had the iTunes silhouettes all over it, and Laura and Tyler had stars--Tyler is a huge Cowboys fan). She taped a gift card on the bottom and then filled the entire container in layers of mini M&M's she had purchased in bulk and then shorted by hand! She is amazing! Here is ours with UVa's logo on the top and the fight song painted on the side (AND a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse gift card inside):

Earrings! Thanks, George!

Collar stays from Brooks Brothers, compliments of Chad. George is super excited to try them out!

Jude found the best gift ever!

Yay for makeup giftcards!

Stephen got an iTouch... lucky dog. :)

My mom got all the girls "Bump-its" which George and I thought was pretty hilarious because one of our favorite things to laugh about is the fact that Bump-its are actually on the market. I couldn't tell if it was a gag gift or it was meant to be a true gift. Either way, it was a good laugh. I'm not entirely sure it will actually make it into my hair...

Jude enjoying a gift.

Yay! A dehumidifier! We live in the basement apartment so this will really come in handy! Especially since it gets so moist in our kitchen our pantry literally "rains". Thanks, Mom and Glenn!

Chad decided to help out Santa with the big gifts and got everyone in our family Seven for All Mankind jeans! These are designer jeans that cost anywhere from $150 to $200. Way too generous, but they look fabulous! Thanks, Chad!


After a great (late) breakfast at IHOP with my family, we drove to the Glass's house to celebrate the rest of Christmas day with them. It's always a big party with tons of family and LOTS of food! Everyone is always so kind and generous and every year we've left with wonderful gifts for ourselves and the boys. 

Jude's sporting his Chinese Christmas outfit. I think he looks adorable!

Yum! Turkey!

After dinner everyone sat around and talked and played Grand Turismo, a racing game Nathan and George have. Even the "adults" got into it. :)

Jude loved all the attention he got. Eat, Jude. Eat!

Once again, somehow several of the pictures on my camera disappeared from this event... I don't know how that keeps happening.

It was a great Christmas day full of fun, family, and lots of food. It doesn't get much better than that!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a very busy day. Around 11 a.m., Lance's dad came to pick him up for their trip to California. After we said good-bye, we gave Jude to my mom and George and I drove to Charlottesville.

Yes, we drove to Charlottesville on Christmas Eve. Why, you ask? Well, as it turns out, George had ordered a few gifts for his family and accidentally had them sent to our home address instead of to Ashburn where we were staying. I thought it would be such a headache to make the 2+ hour trip there just to grab the gifts and make the same drive back again, but honestly, I think that drive made this day my favorite day of the break.

We actually got to be together, alone, without any other distractions or interruptions. Those of you with kids can appreciate how truly rare that is and those of you who traveled for the holidays and stayed in a house that wasn't yours can understand why we enjoyed it so much. We talked, we had dinner together, we did a little last-minute shopping, and just loved being together. It was a welcome break from the crazy pace the holiday can be (as fun as it is!) and a chance to just breathe.

When we got back to Ashburn that evening, it was right back to where we were--George went to his parent's house to help prepare for Christmas dinner the next day and I went to get Jude from my family and participate in our annual Christmas Program. This program has it's roots way back when we were too little to even remember. You would think that with all of us being adults it would go smoothly, but the inevitable laughing, joking, and playing with the pieces of the nativity were definitely still there. 

The Calderwoods. Mason was really into it, can you tell?

Stephen, Jason, Amy, and Chad (in the back)

Mom and Glenn

Mason loving on the stuffed wisemen.

Jason and Laura playing one of the songs we sang during the program.

Our Nativity. Grandma Brewer made this set for us at least 20 years ago and it's still going strong. When we were little we would fight over who got to be baby Jesus or the Shepherds or the camel and this year was no exception.

 After the program, I ran over to the Glass's house to pick up George, but he was watching Allen because Bryce was at the ER and George's parents were watching Callie at her house. Bryce couldn't breathe but after a few nebulizer treatments he was able to come home and George made it over to my mom's house to help finish wrapping presents.

I think this picture was taken around 1 a.m. Santa hadn't come yet (thank goodness!) and we all made it to bed around 2:30 a.m. to await the morning!

Lance's Christmas--2 days early?

This year Lance got to spend Christmas with his dad and Dahlquist cousins in California, so George and I had a little talk with Santa and we all decided Santa would come to Grandma's house a couple days before Christmas so Lance could open his gifts before he left on Christmas eve. It turned out perfect!

The view when we woke up. And no, all those gifts are NOT for Lance, just the ones in the front.

Perusing the stocking goodies. Jude was simultaneously confused and excited about the goings on.

Aunt Amy showing Lance how to launch Tic Tacs in his little catapult she got him. The glory of being an aunt...

And, of course, the standard underwear gift. At least it's Perry the Platypus.

 

Paper planes! Thanks again, Aunt Amy!

Uncle Stephen gave Lance one of his favorite toys this year: a little launcher with a couple foam planes.

This is the best feeling, seeing your child thrilled.

Lance actually understood this shirt, which I thought was pretty impressive. It's a knock-knock joke. Get it?

Lance was the most excited about this gift. Dragonoid!

Lance had a great time! Later that day we went over to the Glass's house where Lance got to play with Callie and Bryce. They exchanged Christmas gifts and then Callie and Lance put together the cool Lego helicopter they gave him. I had several pictures of the kids playing, but about 20 pictures got erased somehow from my camera. If I find some, I'll post them. 

It was a great day! Lance was so happy and had a fun time enjoying his family and his gifts.

The start of Christmas Vacation--part 2!

Of course a lot of that time the week before Christmas was spent running around as a family doing last minute shopping. We had a good time visiting Tyson's Corner Mall and perusing the endless stores. The boys enjoyed it because they got to play on the playground inside AND Lance and I got to ride the mini train around the food court. 

The Tuesday before Christmas (the 21st), the Glass family all went to see Bryce perform in his Preschool Christmas program. It was fun to be there and support our favorite Glass nephew. ;) He did a great job and watching the program brought back a lot of old memories when I was little and performing as my family looked on. 

 The family

 Bryce is the handsome boy on the top row, far left.

Being the cow in the stable. Cute!

Later that day the boys and I got to hang out with Aunt Linda, Kailey and Bethany. They stopped by to drop off gifts for us. We couldn't wait four more days, so we opened them right then.

Jude had never opened a present before. Bethany helped show him the ropes.

Lance was super excited about his snowman ornament that lights up AND his elf hat that was very fitting. What a goof!

Glenn came down to see the fun as Lance assisted in the opening of the gifts.

Lance helped me and Laura figure out our gift. It was a cookbook holder. I'm so excited because that is something that will really come in handy back in Charlottesville! Thanks, Simmons!


Laura had to present at a meeting the next morning (Wednesday the 22nd), so the boys and I got to watch Mason for a few hours.  Lance and Jude both loved it, but I think Jude liked it the best.

Jude kept trying to smile at Mason and pat his head... or touch his eyes. Yeah, we're working on that.

 I had Lance take this picture because he was the only one around at the time. I think he did a great job! Jude was still stoked about another baby.

Jude thought it would be fun to rock Mason in the chair and proceeded to do so at a furious rate.

 The crazy rocking coupled with this sort of thing (above) pushed Mason over the edge, and I decided he needed a little "alone time" away from his adoring cousin.

So his other adoring cousin took over. Lance likes Mason a lot, which surprises me because he always tells me he doesn't like being around babies. I'm so glad they all get along! It was a busy, fun start to our Christmas vacation!