Our Christmas

I'm finally blogging about our Christmas, only about 3 weeks late ;)

Our Christmas was really laid back this year. The kids woke up at about 8:30am & we let John walk around with his drink until he realized that there were presents under the tree. While he was doing that, I decided to get my speed light settings set correctly & do a few test shots. 

My faithful little model :)

 When John walked over to the tree, he finally realized that there were presents! He grabbed one & started screaming. 

He, of course, went straight for a DVD shaped present {boy he's smart!}

{CONFESSION-- Nathan & I were both really excited to watch this movie! Nathan even debated giving it to him early... like a whole month early so we could watch it haha}

Lookin at all the pretty boxes.

 So, once John had the DVD "Planes" in his hands, he screamed to watch it right that instant! He refused to open any more presents. Okay... whatever you like, kid!

I made some cinnamon rolls for breakfast & so he hunkered down in his booster seat to watch "Planes" & eat his cinnamon roll.

Once the movie ended {he stayed up there almost the entire time totally entranced}, he was ready to tear into the rest of the presents! By this time little Ellie was napping, which wasn't a huge deal since we didn't bother to wrap her presents. I know, shame on us. But, we were out of boxes & she won't remember or care lol.

John loved playing with Ellie's new toys too ;)

John LOVES tearing apart our kitchen, so I thought maybe he'd quit if he got these... nope. Now he thinks these belong in my drawers & cabinets :)

Way to go Grandma for sending the favorite toys! Mr. Man loves, loves, LOVES Toy Story. Buzz & Woody go everywhere John goes.... everywhere. 

I can't even tell you how many times a day I have to put Woody's hat back on his head.

And little miss woke up after John opened all his presents! What a pouty little face!

We are so excited to get back to the States this fall so we can really get into starting our own family traditions for Christmas & Thanksgiving. I have so many things I want to do to help them understand the true meaning of Christmas. Nathan & I both don't like how much this special holiday is commercialized, so our goal is to make sure that's not how our kids view Christmas.

A few days later, we received a HUGE box from a family that adopted Nathan on his first deployment to Iraq {back in 2007}. It was filled with Christmas presents for all of us! They are such a sweet & giving family & it was a gesture that just really touched me.

{Please excuse the horrid white balance. I completely forgot to adjust my settings for being indoors & really had no desire to try to correct anything in Photoshop}

This was Ellie's first time opening up presents! She actually tore the paper off pretty well!

ugh yuck! he LOVES hot sauce.