Some of the highlights:
Jack and Dasha had class parties. They both had lots of fun, despite the expression on this face:
My dad came to spend Christmas with us and arrived noon-ish on Christmas Eve. So we all got to go to Christmas Eve church service which has always been my favorite part of Christmas. I got the little kids dressed up in cute outfits (bought mostly on ebay). Again, Jack was pretty happy even though you can’t tell from this face:
The next morning was present time! Although there were promises to the contrary, no one was ready to open before 10. I had the camera ready and we made sure Santa ate his cookies before we dove in. I don’t have a pic of it but my favorite present was a Gru scarf! Just like the one from the movie “Despicable Me”! Allan’s was a nice warm work coat:
Andrew got the next in a series of books that he’s been reading, and Tyler leaped into the 21st century and got a cell phone! ($10 a month for the line, free phone, no data plan – yay!)
This was Madelyn’s big year. I found her need for a computer now to be bigger than my need to make her wait for graduation so she got a laptop. So, Happy Graduation now Madelyn! I’ll be reminding her in a year and 1/2 :). And her other present was a new winter coat – a letter jacket since she’s getting more “letters” to put on it than she thought she would. So that takes care of her birthday too.
(Don’t worry, the boys got a few other things as well, they were happy.)
And the little kids, they both opened all their own gifts and had fun. They both got Signing Time movies and a door plaque to decorate and photo viewers for kids. There were a few other things, but I think their favorites were these:
