Merry Christmas 2013

We stayed put this year for Christmas and it was such a great little week with my little family. The boys are at the stage where they would open a present and then actually play with it for a while (versus the "What's next?" and "How many of these gifts are mine?" phase I think will inevitably come down the road). At one point Erik and I looked at each other and were like, "Well I guess we'll make breakfast then?" while the boys were quietly playing (read: not stabbing each other with the new toys) for 20 minutes.

Although a Skype Christmas is not an ideal way to spend time with family, it actually didn't go too terribly and we felt included and part of the action. I even showered and dressed for the occassion!

Santa brought me a new wide angle lens and some new camera accessories that I will soon play with and Erik's big gift was a GoPro camera to use in the jet. Although we really want to mount it onto Landon's bike to see with the world looks like when riding 1.5 mph from a 3.5 ft height vantage point.

Merry Christmas, ya'll. Hope it was filled with warm huggies and good food! The rest is just a bonus :o)

Anders observing the Santa and Reindeer leftovers.

Not a noteworthy photo, but I love Anders' face in this one. "A doyyy!"

Opening their musical cards from Grandpa Jim.

Playing with the new pirate ship.

Elf butt staring at the tree.

This is the first year with our Elf on a Shelf and Landon was hooked. He needed an elf hat of his own!

Baking the annual whiskey cakes to send out to neighbors and friends.

Dinner over at our friend's house to round out the day.

Mom escapes for the morning after Christmas to look for deals. My day started like this and it was a perfect personal morning.

Landon's first self portrait occurred this season. "I wearing a snowman shirt!"