Belated Merry Christmas!

Things have been so busy around here that I have been very delinquent in posting about our Christmas. It was crazy busy, but a VERY merry Christmas was had by all in our house. We spent a quiet Christmas Eve in our house making a gingerbread house, eating yummy food and watching the Polar Express. Thankfully, my kids are not extremely early risers, so we weren't up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning:-). Anna was very excited to come downstairs and see all the presents. Simon just wanted to play and was excited about all of the open floor space that we had cleared to have room to open everything.

Anna is at a great age where she gets excited about everything she opens, no matter how big or small it is. Simon wasn't all that into the actual opening of the gifts but loved playing with his new toys once we had pried/cut/chiseled/mined them out of their packaging and countless twist ties (those of you with little ones know the packaging I am talking about).

Some photos from Christmas morning....

The kiddos (notice the pj's - keep an eye out for the same pj's in different colors later on)


Anna desperately wanted a bath robe for Christmas and was thrilled with one she got - she would wear it all day, every day if we let her :-)


Simon loved his new set of mini sports balls - the soccer one seems to be his favorite; although the football is better for chewing on as it has more pointed ends suitable for putting on ones mouth.


Another one of Anna's favs - she just calls it her mermaid head :-)


Simon really just wanted us to let him have at the tree. He got a good couple of pulls in while we were distracted.


The above mentioned pajamas (there are still more photos to come). It did take a good deal of convincing to get Joel to wear his, for obvious reasons.


Later on Christmas Day, we headed over to Jen's parents' place where Karen, Ryan and baby Olivia were already waiting. We had a yummy lunch/dinner, opened lots of great gifts and took lots of pictures (Okay, I took lots of pictures).

With baby Olivia


Grandma and her grand babies. Yes, the pajamas again. Actually, the entire Koli clan has them. None of the guys were thrilled with our purchase, but they did wear them, if only briefly for a family photo. I do have a really great shot of the entire family - the brightness of all those pj's together is overwhelming! I have been threatened with a nasty computer virus if I post it here, so you will have to just imagine how colorful it looks :-)


Simon opening a gift from Auntie Karen and Uncle Ryan. They always buy great gifts - the kids love them. However, they are rarely small or quiet. I have already begun my quest for the biggest, noisiest thing I can find for Olivia for next Christmas - Look out Auntie Karen!


One of Joel's most favorite gifts (the jersey, not the hockey tape)


Anna got to buy her own gifts this year at the "Santaland" store at school. She was very proud to give out her gifts and explain why she bought them.


No, that is not a doll Anna is holding. It is baby Olivia, who pretty much slept through her first Christmas.


And, lastly, the monster that we have created. We got Anna a little hand held video game and this is how we found her the day after Christmas when we came downstairs - the princess, in her robe, engrossed in what is sure to be her first of many hand held electronic toys.