It sure was nice having Jim, Annie and family along with Sara's parents around for the Christmas holiday. Yes, it was a bit crazy at times but isn't that how family holidays are supposed to be? Sam and Trevor knew how to chill out if it was crazy - ipad time ;)
As did the girls - swing time!
Jim, Annie and family divided their time between our house and Nicci and Mike's down the road from us. One of the nights that they were over there and Sara's parents were out on a date, our family went to the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess hotel to see their holiday lights display. We were blown away - it was awesome!
One of Trevor's favorite displays was the pirate ship! He also loved the choo choo train (that we could have taken instead of walked through the display but the line was way too long), the ice skating rink (much too cold to do) and the Christmas tree that lit up to holiday music. We'll for sure go back next year!
Another day we had a Roslansky family Christmas and opened gifts from Nana and Papa Steve. Nana always picks out non-typical toys (can you say former Kindergarten teacher) that the kiddos always love! Like this magnifying glass!
After each gift our sweet boy would run over and give Nana a hug. Melted our hearts!
Sam really got into opening his gifts too!
Gifts are great but the best part is being all together!
What did Randle do during all the gift opening? Found a comfy spot on the couch. Lazy dog!
Nana and her two grand-daughters! Love! Elena is figuring out how to suck her thumb!
One night we were invited over to Annie's cousin Brooke's house for a holiday party. Ashley was the youngest baby there but was probably the quietest :)
Another memory from that evening was their dog befriending Trevor...until the doggie nipped at Trevor. Then he (the dog) was confined to his kennel.
One night we had everyone over for dinner at our house - Nana, Papa, Grandma Shar, Grandpa Bill, Michael, Nicci, Adam, Cole, Jim, Annie, Sam, Elena, Paul (Annie and Nicci's brother), Nicki, Brennan, Lola and the four of our family! We enjoyed lots of good Mexican food and Nana Jeanne did gingerbread man baking and decorating with the kiddos. It was a hit!
On Christmas eve we attended mass with Nana and Papa. We were lucky to find some of the last seats together. Trevor got a kick out of the Knights of Columbus honor guard that was also in attendance. He called them pirates and really loved their 'hi ya' swords. When we got home we took a few pics of our princess:
All of our kiddos:
Already picking on his little sister. She isn't sure what to think!
She looks grouchy but she's really just focused and intense!
Trevor wasn't too excited at all to have pictures of our family taken so this is the best we got! Ashley wasn't very into it either!
Quick photo of all of us - including Randle!
That night when Jim and Annie got back from Mike and Nicci's (and after all of our kiddos were in bed) we cranked up the hot tub and Sara had her first hot tub in the new house. You can't be in such hot water when you are pregnant and it isn't safe after giving birth until your doctor says it's okay and she got the okay on the 21st! Everything else post c-section looked good too!
On Christmas Day morning we enjoyed a meal of waffles and then got to opening gifts.
Of course Ashley slept through all of that. Annie at one point said she'd be worried about Ashley sleeping so much during the day but we weren't worried. Our kids are sleepers - day and night!
Trevor thought he was pretty cool wearing a Santa hat!
Santa went a bit overboard - again - but Trevor was a very good boy this year with all of the transitions going on!
He really got into ripping open the gifts....
....but always stopped to thank and hug the gift giver! Such a sweet boy!
Lincoln Logs! How did Santa know that he played with those at Kids Korner at the clubhouse??
One of his favorite gifts was the Shutterfly album Mommy put together from our CA Adventure of Mickey's house, Legoland and the beach!
And lo and behold look what Santa found for Trevor! A 'truck with a thing on the front and back' - he opened it and said 'I've been waiting for this for a long time. Thank you Santa!'
On Christmas Day evening Jim, Annie and crew were back at our house for one last dinner together (leftovers from our yummy Christmas meal) before flying out the next day. We took the opportunity to take a quick picture of us all:
Did the best we could trying to get four kiddos to smile :)
And when the boys were done with photos, we got one of the proud Grandparents and their grand-daughters!
Our last night together we also built a cool gingerbread house. The boys thought that was pretty cool!
The boys and their matching jammies!
And before saying 'see you later' we made sure that Uncle Jim and his God-daughter got a picture together in the 'My Uncle Rocks' outfit that he and Annie got her :) 11 days was simply not enough time together but we hope to get together again soon (well, in Minnesota....after the snow)!
