Christmas Time

I Know, it's a few days past Christmas, but at least I finally took the time to post about it, so back off!

Christmas was a 2 day affair.

Starting Christmas Eve with a trip to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's.


The kids got some great presents, as did we. A lunch of some home made Turkey Noodle Soup and time with Jay & Eileen as well as Great Grandma Taylor just chatting made the time go by quick. Rylan got a puzzle, and it was great to see him and Dylan spending time together working on it.

From there we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Barnes' for Grandpa's birthday party.

The whole family was there (Except Brian and Shelby, staying with the new baby). It's always good to get everyone together and just relax. Of course Brooklyn still hates me, so I didn't get the chance to come within 10 feet of her without her turning the other direction. I do regret not getting more photos that night.

CHRISTMAS DAY

I think this was the first year that the kids didn't come flying out of their rooms before the buttcrack of dawn to go downstairs and open presents. They actually waited until 8 like we had asked them.

This year was a big year for Rylan, he got to be more involved with helping Santa. He's growing up soooo fast!

Santa seemed to be pretty good to the kids once again.

Of course, Shelly has the kids totally photo trained, so after every present was opened, it was Turn, Find The Camera, And Pose!

I think Rylan was as excited for the Beef Jerky as anything else!
We even managed to capture the elusive "Smile" that Dylan seems to hide deep somewhere.

After presents we started our traditional foods for the day.

Breakfast was Marc's famous Omelets!

Still looks good enough to eat. And they tasted better than they looked!

The best part of Christmas was that we stayed home! I love that we can just be with each other and not have to worry about trying to get from place to place.

Shelly and I don't get "presents" for each other, but this year I surprised her with a "present". I have been putting together a video of the family's activities for the past year. Parts 1 and 2 are done and I let her see it. Part 3 will not be done until after the first of the year, had to include Christmas. I'll put them online in the near future.

We also got our traditional Christmas Dinner again! Take Out from Hunan Village, the best General Tso's Chicken on the planet. And the owner was so nice, she slipped a gift certificate into our bag for Christmas.

We spent the better part of the day playing Guitar Hero and Castlevania on the Wii. Kylee played with her makeup (Santa should know better!) and we just 'Hung Out' for the day.