Christmas 2011

 Christmas was really nice this year. We had 5 days in both places, so we got to settle in a bit.

First we headed to Colorado. There was snow!! The kids were so excited.

 We took the kids across the street to build snowmen. Grandma W and I ended up making them while Anna played in the snow and Jacob ate it! ha!! Anna decided mine was a snowlady and drew a skirt and necklace on her, as well as hair.

 The weather was gorgeous. If Anna and Jacob hadn't been rolling around in the snow, they wouldn't have needed their coats on. Isaac sat at the front door, looking out like a sad little puppy so Grandpa took pity on him and brought him out to watch for a while.

 That nose wrinkle! He thought he was hot stuff sitting on the little rocking chair.

We had a couple of family gatherings while we were there. It was good to see everyone...always wish we had more time to visit with those we only see once a year!

Then it was on to Kansas...

 Jacob made himself right at home at Cara & Terry's house. (was all the John Deere stuff a giveaway to where he is??)

 The boy is serious about his John Deere movies!

 Anna and Jacob farming. I think they were cutting wheat :)

Happy as a clam, playing with the farm toys.

Hauling off the wheat.

Then it was out to the real farm to see Great Grandpa & Great Grandma S.

 Hmm...I don't really think I need this hat. Mama is being silly. 

 That's better!

 

 The big kids couldn't wait to build a snowman with Papa!

 These dogs spent most of the morning in the yard. Grandma couldn't get ahold of the neighbors. Anna and Jacob do NOT like big dogs. Jacob, especially. But he's getting better. They were really nice dogs, but they kept getting in the way and the kids just didn't really like them. We tried chasing them off but the farthest they would go was the other side of the house. After about 30 minutes, a big ol' Husky showed up. He started chasing the other 2 dogs around, nipping at them and barking (not agressively). I hollered at him but it seriously looked like he was trying to herd the other 2 dogs. Sure enough, he kept chasing them across the yard, across the road and into the field. Off they went back home! It was so weird! That Husky came over just to bring them home! (and we know that the neighbors weren't home, so he did it all on his own!)

There was a bit of a drift in the ditch, so Anna tried digging a tunnel. It didn't work, but she had fun! 

 Not a good quality picture, but nothing beats the sunsets at the farm.

 Back to Cara's for Mom's side. Traci and I had Danny & Aaron's names and of course, every time we asked them what they wanted, they would say "I don't know" and we just got tired of not getting an actual answer. SO we decided to give them COAL! Hahaha. Traci put a few pieces of charcoal in gift bags and they opened those first. It was priceless. Maybe next year they won't say "I don't know"!!!

 Then it was out to Alan & Donna's for Dad's side. Anna conned (I don't think she had to try very hard!) Aunt Janet into reading. She must have read Anna 20 books! (Thanks Aunt Janet!!)

 Isaac stealing Papa's program schedule!

 Binga did a little show (demonstration??) for the little kids. She decorated a cake and related it to Jesus' birth, etc. It was pretty neat.

 Not sure what she said, but it doesn't look like the kids are buying it!

Then they sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out the candles!

 Somehow Papa & Binga convinced the kids to dress up as Jamie read the Christmas story. This is Jacob as the sheep. See the toy gun? He crawled over and grabbed it...I've never seen a sheep with a gun! It was funny.

 Like father, like son (Jamie & Tate)

 

 

 Opening gifts.

The funnest part for the kids was the puppet show! A couple years ago, Papa and Uncle Randall put on a puppet show. The kids loved it!! So it has become tradition! Truth be told, the adults get a kick out of it, too. Mostly just hearing them flub up their lines ;)

The funnest part for the adults was the game Dad came up with for our gift exchange. We brought a grab bag gift and then wrote down a little-known fact about ourselves. The factoids went into separate envelopes and then were passed out randomly (as were the gifts). Then we took turns reading the factoid we were passed and trying to guess who wrote it. If we guessed correctly, we got to open our gift (or steal one already opened). If we guessed incorrectly, we had to wait until it came around to us again. And the person whose clue was guessed last, received a prize! It was really fun. Another game we played before that was fun, too. Dad had a bunch of random questions and went around the circle and asked each person one. It was funny, serious, and interesting. Mom & Dad did a great job putting it on!

So, we had a really good Christmas. So glad we were able to see the family that we did!