Our Family Christmas 2008

Okay, so I don't know how to link the actual slide show of our Christmas to our blog, nor do I have the time or desire to figure it out, so you all will have to click on the link below and be directed to a site with the photos. Having the daily demands of being a domestic diva placed upon me, this is good enough.

As for Christmas. We had such a great time. Annika woke up happy in her cute little Santa pajamas. She was so surprised to see all the presents around the tree. The first thing she did was walk up to a Santa sitting on a present and say, "Noah." She then sat in her new little chair and pulled out her Christmas books from the side and started to read. Joe says she gets her love of books from me, but he does his share of reading too, and Austin is always reading when he is around. So I guess Annika is destined to love reading too!

For breakfast we had homemade cinnamon rolls, a tradition we have had since being married and will likely continue. Afterwards, we tried to get Annika to open a few presents. The first thing she opened was a box of stickers and she was ready to spend the rest of the morning sticking them all over herself. Then she found a little stocking her Aunt Liz sent and started pulling the contents out: first a pair of UT socks, then a chocolate dipped rice krispy treat, and then, well who cares, she had a chocolate dipped rice krispy treat. This was the highlight, and obsession, of her Christmas. Nothing else mattered but that treat.

Joe and I exchanged gifts while Annika ate her rice krispy. We listened to our favorite Christmas music and relaxed for a while. After we convinced Annika to give us the messy remainders of her rice krispy, okay, maybe more like wrestled the thing away from her with only a few tears, we went downstairs so Annika could see her Christmas present. I got a bargain on a slide and kitchen from the PX for Annika. (a $60 slide for $28, and no tax) The first thing Annika saw was a cheap $10 horse from the dollar store, and she got so excited she failed to see the kitchen and slide less than 10 feet away. But once she did she had a great time playing. Joe left me downstairs with her by myself and I didn't think I'd ever make it back up, Annika was having that much fun playing.

We made a Christmas lunch with ham, of course. Afterwards Annika colored a couple pictures from the nativity and we cut them out and taped them to Popsicle sticks. We got the pictures and told her the Christmas lesson from the nursery manual at church. It's a really good manual, and the objective of the lesson was Jesus Christ is Heavenly Father's Son. Every time we said Heavenly Father Annika would fold her arms, bow her head, and start to pray. She's too cute.

The rest of the day was spent going for a walk, watching movies, and just enjoying our family.

Friday morning Austin came bright and early. Annika gets so excited when Austin is here. She loves her brother so much. We ate breakfast and then exchanged gifts. Annika took every gift, even the ones Austin brought for her, and gave them all to Austin. She was so happy! Austin got Annika an adorable ballerina outfit, complete with tutu and everything. Additionally he got her a ton of cute clothes. Annika got Austin a cool NSA hoodie sweatshirt, and he got a bright yellow American Eagle hoodie (Dayton needs something bright this time of year). He also got matching UT socks from his Aunt Liz and now matches Annika.

We have been enjoying our weekend together, and hope all of you have been enjoying your family time as much as we have. We miss our family in Texas and California, but all in all, we had a great time.

Link to our Christmas Slide show:

http://s550.photobucket.com/albums/ii433/joekat_photos/?albumview=slideshow


Annika doing her Christmas dance.


Annika discovering her new chair.