Playing with our presents...

Oh Christmas Tree! We were so lucky and blessed to get fantastic presents this year. Brian has wasted no time flying his new plane (he's only had to do major repair two times now) and I'm embroidering anything I can get my hands on!

Elfy

Elfy came to live with us soon after Thanksgiving and he has been a great addition to our family. We are so lucky that Santa chose such a nice and friendly elf to come and stay with us during the Christmas season. Santa sends Elfy to watch our house and each night, when we go to sleep, Elfy fly's back to the North Pole to tell Santa if we have been good or bad. Each morning, Andrew gets up and runs around the house looking for Elfy and were he is hiding next. Elfy is magic, so you can't touch him and he only talks to Mommy and Daddy when no one else is listening. We will miss Elfly when Santa comes to get him on Christmas Eve but we are looking forward to him coming back next year to spend time with our family.

Wing Family Christmas

The Christmas parties never stop in this house! On the afternoon of Christmas the Wing family came over to celebrate. We are lucky that they all live close and we are able to see them throughout the year but it is nice to get together as a family and celebrate the holidays. We had a nice relaxing afternoon with Andrew and Trevor playing and the adults catching up. Brian took the boys out to fly his new RC airplane but they came back quickly because the airplane had an "accident". I've been told that RC flying involves lots of accidents and rebuilding the plane is half the fun.

Christmas Morning

There isn't any time that is more magical than Christmas morning. The excitement of seeing what Santa brought and finally finding out what is under the Christmas tree. This year has been the best year yet. First, Andrew slept in until 8:00! Second, he was SO excited and actually understood what was going on. Third, my parents were here to celebrate with us. It couldn't have been any better.

Andrew was so excited and thankful for everything he got. He was really good at opening one present at a time and waiting while other people took their turns. Andrew must have been a really good boy this year because Santa brought him a fire station. We had to ask him to stop playing with it so we could open our stockings and more presents!

Trying to get a sneak peak as we go down the stairs

So excited!!

Seeing his smile makes it all worth it.  I love this little guy!

His smile is cute too!

Since Brian knew what I got him for Christmas already, I made him work for it!  He had to go on a scavenger hunt through the house.

Gma and Gpa recorded a book for Andrew.

Yeah for me!  I got an embroidery machine.  Next year everyone will get embroidered gifts.  :)

You may have noticed that we are all in matching PJ's.  My mom is so cute, she had them waiting for us on Christmas Eve.  :)

Kinzel Family Christmas

We were lucky this year that Karla and her family were able to come down from Idaho to for Christmas. It was nice to have the entire family together and be able to celebrate with everyone there. Dave and Terri were brave enough to invite us all over and we took over their house for the afternoon. Dave had gotten a train that went under the Christmas tree and Andrew was so in love with it. Anytime someone would walk by the tree, he would ask them to turn it on! It was a great evening and we finished it by going to midnight mass (at 8pm!) in Richmond with my parents. It was a great evening and we can't wait for Christmas tomorrow to see what Santa brought us. :)

Oma with her great grandsons

Oma with all of the "kids"

Kinzel Family

Andrew decided to wear safety goggles and use a wrench to open his presents.

Yeah!  Someone turned on the train!

Duste Family Christmas

We hosted the Duste Family Christmas at our house this year. It was a small group because Tim was working and Bob was recovering from heart surgery the week before. Grandpa Duste and Joyce came over and Brian cooked an AMAZING prime rib.  It was the best prime rib he's ever cooked and that I've ever tasted.  My mouth is watering just writing about it.  It was a nice small gathering and it was nice to catch up with family and celebrate the holidays.

First Christmas Dinner in the dining room.  We really need to get come nicer chairs!

The excitement was a little too much for Andrew.  He took a nap during dinner.

Andrew Starts Skiing!

It has been a dream of mine since before Andrew was even around that when I had children, they would learn how to ski and now, I can check that one off the list! I took my first ski lesson when I was three so the expectation I had for Andrew was that he start at the same time.  I think I was more excited than he was the first day and that is saying a lot because Andrew was REALLY excited.  It's all he has been talking about since we told him we were going to Tahoe.  I've been looking at all of the different options: all day ski school, 1/2 day, no ski school, equipment rentals.  After talking it over, we decided that a morning 1/2 day ski school would be best.  Since Andrew still takes naps, I thought all day might be a little long (and I was right, he took a 3 hour nap each day after school).

The first day we woke up bright and early and went to ski school.  Brian and I sneaked down to watch Andrew ski.  We didn't want him to see us and ask to come home.  No fear, Andrew was a pro!  He walked up the carpet and didn't waste anytime pointing his skis down the hill (read: flat area where they teach the little kids).  Once we knew he was up and skiing, Brian and I headed up to do some more runs on our own.

Andrew is the kid with the blue vest and grey jacket.

First trip down the hill

The second day, after we picked Andrew up from school I decided to get adventurous and take him down Village Run.  My parents and Brian met us at the top of the gondola and we went down the hill.  The best part was that Oma did a run down the Village Run with us!!  If you look closely, you can see her on the side of the picture, waiting for us to go down.  It was great to do a family run and that Oma was able to ski down with us.  (Oma is still skiing and she is 79 years young!)

Skiing with daddy.

The third day my mom and I decided we would "teach" Andrew ourselves.  We did a couple of runs down Village Run in the morning and then brought Andrew back to take a nap.  Oma was nice enough to stay with Andrew so my mom and I could head up and do some runs in the afternoon.

Skiing all by himself!

After a long morning of skiing, Andrew got a ride back to the shuttle in style.  Look how cute those little skis are!