Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents from Santa right away.  We made some breakfast and then Nick and I had one more gift to the boys.  We bought them a PS4 which is what they have been wanting for a long time!  They were so excited.  After nap time Ralph, Jan, and Chris came over for Christmas dinner.  It was 57 degrees outside, so we ended up playing outside for a while too!

"This is the best day of my life!"

 Steak and Chicken on the Grill

 A little football

 It was so nice out!

 Documentation of Nick's perfect steak!

 Crab legs too

Christmas Eve

Christmas number two!  We made Christmas cookies when we got home for Santa.  They decorated the cookies the next morning and went a little overboard with the sprinkles.  For Christmas Eve we went to Nick's cousins house for a little while and then come home for dinner.  We opened presents, ate dinner, and then went to church.  It was a great night!

The boys picked out the jammies this year :)

Christmas Upnorth

We alternate years going up north and having my parents come down for Christmas.  This year it was our turn to go up north and I think we might keep doing it each year.  We stayed downtown Traverse City and it was perfect!  The weather was amazing, so we were able to walk around and check out all of the areas around town.  The hotel was pretty empty and we had the pool all to ourselves.  The boys got to see Santa and build a snowman too!

 The view from our hotel deck

 The first night we went to Bubba's for dinner, it was walking distance :)

 The biggest hotel pool that I have ever seen!

 Our sleep solution, floor on the bed.  We found out the hard way the next night that this did not work so well.

 Breakfast at The Omelette Shoppe

 On the walk back to the hotel we saw that Santa's house was open, so we had to stop by!  The boys are pretty sure he is the real Santa!

 When we got to about Cadillac there was snow on the ground and the boys kept saying it was not fair that they had snow and we did not.  They really wanted to build a snowman, so we did at my parents house. 

 We got David and Kaytlyn and us matching cups!

 My dad and Larry, his BFF and also my Godfather :)

 David and Kaytlyn got the boys bottles of Coke and I think that might have been the highlight of the presents.

 David decided to continue the tradition of giving his nephews tools, just like our Uncle Jeff did for his nephews.

 Alex got his first little cup of pop ever!

 Alex and Papa have a special bond.  He really loves his Papa.

 Dressed like twins :)

 So back to the sleeping arrangements.  So Alex and Tony were wrestling in bed and Alex pulled on Tony's arm too hard.  He ended up with nursemaid's elbow.  This is the second time it has happened so we knew what was going on pretty quick.  We went to the ER and were in and out in under and hour.  I think it might be a new record and I hope if we end up at the ER again, it will be that fast again!

 They were friends the next day again!

Headed home for the next Christmas