*****WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES AHEAD!*****
Christmas night was pretty uneventful at the hotel. Wren slept wonderfully again! Monday morning we went back over to Dad's to have breakfast and to say goodbye. We had to be in Sparta by 11:30 to visit with Aunt Elaine, then Christmas and lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur at noon. It's crazy to think about how many people we used to fit in their basement on Christmases past. Now our family takes up the whole basement ourselves!
At Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur's
Wren playing with a spoon...
Mommy eating one of many, many holiday cookies.
Looks like Chris may be chewing on one, too.
Cozy on the couch with Mommy, Daddy, and AUNT SORCHA!
I had to include this pic just cause it makes me laugh.
After Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur's, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Knight's house to celebrate Christmas with them. Uncle Tim showed up, too! We played games, did a craft project (well, some of us anyway), opened presents, and had a white elephant gift exchange.
Lee playing the quarter game
A roll of quarters is wrapped up in multiple packages within packages (there were a TON of boxes to go through this year). The goal is to get the roll of quarters out (obviously).... BUUUUUT, you have to wear oven mitts on your hands, and the person sitting next to you is rolling a die, and when they roll a 2, you have to stop and it's their turn. And so it goes... around and around until someone finally gets the quarters out....
Melissa was the winner this year...
and Lee is a creeper in the back.
We also played lots of "Minute to Win It" games... boys against girls!
Sorcha and Fionn playing against each other
They had to stack the glasses in a pyramid (and place a pom pom inside each one) without knocking them over. Fionn won this game... I can't remember if boys or girls won overall... but we had a lot of fun playing!
Half of the girls team- Maeve, Sorcha, and Mom!
After Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to check into our hotel in Winona, while everyone else went back to Mom and John's. Wren slept horribly that night. We ended up bringing her into the bed with us... so we all slept horribly. I think her teeth were really bothering her.
Tuesday morning we went up to Lewiston to hang out with the family for the morning/early afternoon. We opened up our stockings, Melissa made us a yummy breakfast, and Wren got a fun new walker from Great Grandpa Duggan!
Musical instruments for Christmas in Wren's stocking!
Wren loves Christmas!
And Lee is still a creeper....
Wren's walker/train/alphabet learning center
Tiny Kitty and Wren checking each other out
That afternoon, Grandpa Duggan took us all out for lunch at Chula Vista.
There were 14 of us all together!
Family pic at Chula.
Of course Wren is eating!
So excited!
Happy baby
Splashin'....
..and swimmin'....
...and playin' with Daddy!
Christmas night was pretty uneventful at the hotel. Wren slept wonderfully again! Monday morning we went back over to Dad's to have breakfast and to say goodbye. We had to be in Sparta by 11:30 to visit with Aunt Elaine, then Christmas and lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur at noon. It's crazy to think about how many people we used to fit in their basement on Christmases past. Now our family takes up the whole basement ourselves!
At Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur's
Wren playing with a spoon...
Mommy eating one of many, many holiday cookies.
Looks like Chris may be chewing on one, too.
Cozy on the couch with Mommy, Daddy, and AUNT SORCHA!
I had to include this pic just cause it makes me laugh.
After Grandpa and Grandma Gudbaur's, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Knight's house to celebrate Christmas with them. Uncle Tim showed up, too! We played games, did a craft project (well, some of us anyway), opened presents, and had a white elephant gift exchange.
Lee playing the quarter game
A roll of quarters is wrapped up in multiple packages within packages (there were a TON of boxes to go through this year). The goal is to get the roll of quarters out (obviously).... BUUUUUT, you have to wear oven mitts on your hands, and the person sitting next to you is rolling a die, and when they roll a 2, you have to stop and it's their turn. And so it goes... around and around until someone finally gets the quarters out....
Melissa was the winner this year...
and Lee is a creeper in the back.
We also played lots of "Minute to Win It" games... boys against girls!
Sorcha and Fionn playing against each other
They had to stack the glasses in a pyramid (and place a pom pom inside each one) without knocking them over. Fionn won this game... I can't remember if boys or girls won overall... but we had a lot of fun playing!
Half of the girls team- Maeve, Sorcha, and Mom!
After Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to check into our hotel in Winona, while everyone else went back to Mom and John's. Wren slept horribly that night. We ended up bringing her into the bed with us... so we all slept horribly. I think her teeth were really bothering her.
Tuesday morning we went up to Lewiston to hang out with the family for the morning/early afternoon. We opened up our stockings, Melissa made us a yummy breakfast, and Wren got a fun new walker from Great Grandpa Duggan!
Musical instruments for Christmas in Wren's stocking!
Wren loves Christmas!
And Lee is still a creeper....
Wren's walker/train/alphabet learning center
Tiny Kitty and Wren checking each other out
There were 14 of us all together!
Family pic at Chula.
Of course Wren is eating!
After lunch, we all went back to the hotel to swim. Mom, John, and the kids got a hotel room, too... and so did Graham, Melissa, and Lee! We had a lot of fun hanging out, swimming, playing games, and decorating cookies... yes, we brought sugar cookies to decorate in our hotel room because we hadn't done it yet! To me, the Christmas season is not complete unless I get to decorate sugar cookies!
Alright, here's a series of unbelievably cute pictures of the Chickaloo in her swimming suit....
I seriously take hundreds of pictures of this girl. Seriously.
Get me outta here! I'm ready to swim!
Alright, here's a series of unbelievably cute pictures of the Chickaloo in her swimming suit....
I seriously take hundreds of pictures of this girl. Seriously.
Get me outta here! I'm ready to swim!
So excited!
Happy baby
Splashin'....
..and swimmin'....
...and playin' with Daddy!
Wren loved splashing in the water! The hotel had a baby pool, which was absolutely great for her. There was also a hot tub (the big kids definitely enjoyed that), and a regular pool, too.
Tired baby after all that playing!
Wren was wore out! She went to bed at 6pm! Chris stayed in the room and worked on his laptop while Wren slept. I went across the hall to Mom, John, and the kids' room... Graham, Melissa, and Lee came over from their room, and we played Sour Apples to Apples, Infuntinum, and decorated cookies. We had so much fun. I always laugh so hard when we are all together!
Hotel cookie decorating
I like the reflection in the mirror!
Some of our beautiful creations!
Ta-da!
Wednesday morning we all had breakfast together at the hotel, loaded up the car (it was full to the top with presents.. mostly for Wren!), said our goodbyes, and hit the road for our loooooong trip back to Indy. Wren actually did really, really well on the return trip. She slept a lot of the ride back (I think she was absolutely exhausted from days that had been jam packed with action!). We stopped twice on our way home... once to eat and once to take a break. We made really good time getting home, and were back by just after 8:00 that night.
Overall, it was a wonderful trip. I had such a great time spending the holidays with my family. The time always goes way too fast... and it's always so sad to say goodbye. I wished we all lived closer together. I really can't wait to see them all again!
Maybe another trip back this summer???
Tired baby after all that playing!
Wren was wore out! She went to bed at 6pm! Chris stayed in the room and worked on his laptop while Wren slept. I went across the hall to Mom, John, and the kids' room... Graham, Melissa, and Lee came over from their room, and we played Sour Apples to Apples, Infuntinum, and decorated cookies. We had so much fun. I always laugh so hard when we are all together!
Hotel cookie decorating
I like the reflection in the mirror!
Some of our beautiful creations!
Ta-da!
Wednesday morning we all had breakfast together at the hotel, loaded up the car (it was full to the top with presents.. mostly for Wren!), said our goodbyes, and hit the road for our loooooong trip back to Indy. Wren actually did really, really well on the return trip. She slept a lot of the ride back (I think she was absolutely exhausted from days that had been jam packed with action!). We stopped twice on our way home... once to eat and once to take a break. We made really good time getting home, and were back by just after 8:00 that night.
Overall, it was a wonderful trip. I had such a great time spending the holidays with my family. The time always goes way too fast... and it's always so sad to say goodbye. I wished we all lived closer together. I really can't wait to see them all again!
Maybe another trip back this summer???
***Oh, and a happy 2012 to everyone! What an amazing year it has been!
***OHHHH, and another thing... I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I looooooove it. For real. Coolest. Thing. Ever.
2 comments:
Thanks soooo much for coming home! I had so much fun with you, Chris, Wren and everyone else!
I love you!
It was so great to see all of you!
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