December 24 - Jacobs Christmas

We started three days of Christmases December 24 with a day of football, gifts, food and treats with my dad (Steve), Lani and my brother Zac. It was a wonderful, relaxing day!! *We shared the holidays with more of my Jacobs family at the Berrens family Christmas two weeks prior (I forgot my camera that day).

What a handsome pair!!

Christmas Eve

Tradition in my family has always been to open one gift before bedtime Christmas Eve ~ and it's always been new pajamas. We've carried on the tradition with the boys, so after bathtime, they stroke down "nakey" to see what Santa had dropped off early ~ special delivery!Then, while the children were nestled, snug in their beds, Santa came down the chimney! He loaded the stockings, surrounded the tree, and shared cookies, milk and carrots with his reindeer. "Ho, Ho, Ho! And to All a 'Good Night!'"

Christmas Morning

Collin woke up over a half hour before Owen, so he and I played in his room until finally, "BABY'S AWAKE!!!!" And we're off!

Owen's First Tool Bench

Until Christmas morning, Collin only had one engine for his train set (now there are three!), and Owen was constantly vying for it. So, for Christmas, Owen gave Collin an upgraded model and inherited the "old" model:

Collin went from having 10 tracks that formed a single oval to having enough tracks and accessories to cover the entire family room floor! We didn't plan it, but somehow everyone seemed to know that Santa was adding to the track so they did too!

Owen didn't quite get into unwrapping the gifts this year, but he loved the paper and bows OFF of the gifts! At one point he started collecting bows, openning and closing the gift box to put in each one separately:

December 25 - Groom/Yanasak Christmas

Great Grandma Groom, my mom and Kevin, Chrissy, Tracey and the Girls, Jared and Janae, and Kramer all came up the afternoon of Christmas Day to celebrate the holiday. We had a wonderful time exchanging gifts and enjoyed a prime rib feast afterwards, joined by our good friends Steve, Katie, and Natalie.

Collin is very into puzzles now, and he especially loved working on this one from Marley.

After bathtime, the kids spent their remaining energy in the playroom. It was too fun to watch Owen tackle the big kids and incite wrestling matches! And although the picture shows Collin stepping over Owen on his way up the slide, you can be Owen was right in the mix with Marley and Collin charging for his turn on the slide!At long last, energy finally spent, the kids crawl onto the couch and wind down with Great Grandma in anticipation of bedtime:

December 26 - Carmody Christmas

Good Morning!! Puff, Puff ~ Choo-Choo!

In 1982, my dad (Bob) gave each of us kids a handmade wood-craft puzzle. This year my dad (now Grandpa Carmody) gave the grandkids each a puzzle of their own:

Tis the Season

Tis the Season for pre-party festivities, and the boys had a blast this year! The day before the families started arriving, the boys and I stayed home for a day of fun, fun, and more fun. I had set Collin up with finger paints and paper and Owen at the window for his first time with shaving cream. As you can see, once done with his finger paint, Collin decided to show Owen the myriad ways to play with shaving cream in addition to simply painting the window! (*Hope that explains why Collin has no shirt and green on his chest). Collin was fascinated each time he clapped his hands and cream splattered everywhere, but it was making a terrible mess, so I told him he'd have to take it outside. I've never seen a boy have so much fun clapping! He'd run out, clap a few times, jump up and down in excitment, then run in because "it's cold, Mommy!" Then, after a quick warm out, "do again?" and off he'd go.For the third year in a row, my girlfriend Danielle came over to make Christmas cookies, and for the first year, Collin joined in the fun! Needless to say, almost all the cookies that turned out were eaten on the spot! Yummy!

"I want to flip it ~ like a pancake!"