We concluded the great Christmas extravaganza of 2011 in Pella when we joined Brad's family at his parent's house on Christmas Day. We left home mid-morning, after opening our stockings from Santa and packing the van, and arrived at 2:00 that afternoon. Everyone else slowly trickled in, and we soon were ready to open gifts and enjoy each other's company.
The whole clan.
Wow, what a good lookin' group of people. ;)
Us.
:)
A hearty game of thumb wrestling with Uncle Brent to warm up our wrapping-paper-ripping fingers.
Oh yeah. He loves Christmas.
From Grandma & Grandpa: Imaginext Toy Story 3 Tri-County Landfill for Reed.
Drew's soooo excited he stopped breathing! Look at his red face!
... and TWO "Yellow Sonics" for Drew. {I know you can't hardly see Drew in this picture, but look at his eye...you can totally see how happy he was!}
And a Christmas gathering isn't the same without plenty of cookies to eat...
...and a friendly game of Spit.
We ended up spending the remainder of the week in Pella and Des Moines. Brad's mom's family gathered on Tuesday evening (the 27th) for their annual Christmas potluck (to which I took absolutely no photos, so I'll need to get some from my mother-in-law ~ Brad's cousin, Jenny, already posted about it on her blog HERE) which officially rounded out our Christmas celebrations for the season. We spent the rest of our time enjoying the boys, Brad's family, and the beautiful weather! It definitely didn't feel like Christmas, with 40 and 50 degree temps all week long! Brad and I were even able to go on a date, which included post-Christmas clearance shopping, lunch, and a matinee. Whooo-eee! We traveled to Des Moines Thursday afternoon to spend a couple days with Brent, Esther, Lewis and Lauren before coming back home on Saturday. For New Year's Eve, we tucked the boys in, donned the flannel jammies, and broke out the old board games to play with my parents while we watched football on TV. Oh yeah. We're a hearty bunch.
We hope that your Christmas season was beautiful and magical, and that 2012 brings you joy and peace!
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