Wrapping up the Holidays

Christmas came and went quickly this year, here are the last of the pictures from our fun times. Getting the girls to sit for a photo can be challenging, I managed to get a few ;) 

Top row: Kari, Joe, John, Grandpa Mike, Alex

Bottom row: Charlotte, Christy, Abby, Anabelle, Grandma Pat, Zac

John, Grandpa Smith

Christy, Anabelle, Grandma Smith, Charlotte

Opening presents ranged from either fast and furious; ripping paper with tornado-like excitement or a slower paced let's stop and play with every little thing for 2 hours before moving on to the next gift. Hence gift opening on Christmas Eve took about 15 minutes and gift opening on Christmas day took the entire day and into the next. 

On Christmas Eve we made Reindeer Food

And sprinkled it on the lawn

We also made sure to leave some cookies and a note for Santa

Finally it was time for some games. This year we tried out several "minute to win it" style games for the grown-ups. I needed to be a little more organized with the scoring- next year I will be better prepared. We still had fun, and even Anabelle was able to get in on some of the fun. Here she is trying to move a cookie from her forehead to her mouth (without using her hands)

We also had a game where you had to move an ornament across the floor using a baseball in a pair of tights on your head. Very funny to watch :)

 There are no other photos of the rest of the games, I think the only way I got most of the people to participate was b/c I promised no pictures would end up on Facebook or the blog, but we had a good time.

Grandpa and Grandma Smith spent the night and Christmas morning, Anabelle and Charlotte woke up to find a new pink soccer ball and some blocks from Santa! Just what they asked for- imagine that ;)

Rudolph pancakes and bacon for breakfast

Sometimes it's nice to be able to surprise your husband and see him smile like a little kid!

We had a lovely relaxing day of eating, playing, and present opening!

Time to decorate some gingerbread houses-yum!

A couple of days after Christmas it snowed lightly and we were able to do something we've been wanting to do for a few years. Danada Equestrian Center offers sleigh rides, so we decided to try it out. Anabelle was a little disappointed at the slow pace, but otherwise it was fun, and a beautiful sunny day!

So glad my Mom and Dad were able to come along, my Mom has been wanting to do this for a long time!

Happy New Year!