Merry Christmas Again

Hear is my post for our Christmas Day with Wally!  I wanted to make sure I got this one in since it has been a wonderful experience.  So fun to watch Wally as he experiences his first Christmas!   I have to thank Drew, Brian's cousin, for letting me use his photos on this blog.  I walked out the door that morning with a car full of stuff, but not my camera!  Luckily there were lots of other cameras in full action that day :)

 We spent our Christmas Day with the John family, and it was a relaxed and fun day together.  We arrived around 10:00am (a little late from our 9:30 goal) and started with family present opening. I will have to post a few of the videos that were taken as we all took turns with Wally in our lap opening gifts.  So fun!  I think he was a little unsure at first if he liked the sound of the ripping paper. But he definately liked playing with the toys that came out of that paper.  More than toys, Wally recieved lots of really great books.  It was a diverse spread - christmas books, some books about space and New York, some really cute texture books, a bible book, animal books, and even a book about Bo the white house dog complete with a stuffed Bo puppy (Jeff has been working for the Economic Advisors staff this year at the White House so that is a pretty special one)!  Wally also got 2 xylophones, a cute toy car, and a few other things.  If this kid turns out with a tin ear, it wasn't for lack of trying!

Brian and I also got him a big tunnel structure that he can crawl around in to put downstairs, and a ton of Megablocks for building fun things.  We technically haven't given them to him yet - they might turn into birthday presents.  Yep, it's Wally's first birthday and we are already smashing Christmas and birthday together.  'Cause we're proactive parents.

 Anyway, the day continued with brunch with David, Natalie, Drew, Mackenzie, and Asami.  The food was excellent with egg bake, sausage, fruit, and tons of other really great food Kath cooked.  Natalie brought these designer cookies she made that looked like she had put a ton of work into!  Almost too pretty to eat, but somehow I managed :)  After lunch we opened gifts from our gift exchange.  Amazon gift cards seemed to be the gift of choice this year.  Jeff and I had this great discussion about how we've almost all hit the point where the things we'd really like to get are way too expensive for any one person to gift, so the gift cards seems like a very logical choice.  Of course on my gift list was a new camera lens (which I'm saving up for.....hopefully soon!)  Mariel and Kath bought me an awesome gift of a class at Mpls Photo Center which I can't wait to take!  I'm thinking about maybe even using it for a one-on-one tutoring which I think would be awesome.

 After a fun day, we drove over to Oakdale and had a lovely dinner with Fred's family.  I was so impressed with how well Wally handeled the day.  No major breakdowns, still took naps, was generally happy to see everyone.  We were greeted at the door by Lucky, Marilyn and Dave's black lab mix.  He was a pretty big and energetic dog, and when Wally first saw him he smiled and grabbed his cheeks and pulled his head.  This kid has never met a stranger.  We didn't stay long since we were really stretching bedtime but were able to get the annual family photo with Dot holding Wally!  We are now special ordering a hand-knit Christmas stocking for Wally and I to match all the ones Dot had given Brian and the other grandchildren!  I can't wait to put them up next year!

Hazel systematically cleaned the floors all day.

I love pulling on the Christmas Tree!