12,000+ Words

You know that old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, since I definitely don't feel like typing that many words myself, I have here a few photos to do the job for me. On Christmas Eve, we left the boys with Grandma Jan and piled into the truck with Kate and Eliot to go cut down a tree on my parent's Pine Creek property.

The four of us with the tree. Eliot brandishing the weapon of choice.

Bandit seeking shelter in the tree on the way back into town.

That night, after attending the Christmas Eve service at the Nazarene church, we all got together at the rental house for an amazing Italian Christmas Eve dinner, which consisted of the Carroll family raviolis with the Cavallo family secret recipe tomato sauce, my mom's specialty cannelloni, and a bunch of other goodies. Yum! After that, we each opened one present (I got flannel pj's from Victoria Secret, soooo comfy) and then Nathan drove me home to collapse . One of my coworkers had come to work sick and managed to give me the cooties, so I was coping with a sore throat, runny nose, and plugged ears. Not cool.

On Christmas Day, we all gathered at our house for breakfast, stockings, and the opening of the gifts that were under our tree since it made absolutely no sense to haul all of those presents over to the rental house that Grandma Jan, Kate, and Eliot were staying in, and then back to our house again. That entire process (breakfast, stockings, presents) lasted from 9 am until around 1 pm.

Grandma Jan with Asher on Christmas morning.

Aunt Kate with Asher on Christmas morning.

Evidently chicks dig Asher. And I have NO idea why all the photos are of Asher and almost none are of Levi. It's not my fault, I'm stealing these photos!

After a short break which included a nap for me, we reconvened at the rental house for the opening of the second batch of presents and Christmas dinner, which all lasted for another 4 hours or so. I'd have to say this was the longest marathon Christmas Day I've ever experienced, but it was a ton of fun.

There weren't many presents that I really wanted this year...hardly any, in fact. It's so hard to think of presents for yourself when you have two babies. I do have to say, though, that the best presents I got were kick butt! One was tickets to see Wicked in Portland in March, along with babysitting services, from Grandma Jan...eeeee! The other, which brought tears to my eyes, was a certificate from my mom for a year's worth of cleaning service every other week. I constantly feel like the only things I do is work, feed babies, and clean the house, so I'm hoping that this will help tame that feeling a little bit. I'm not sure what all this gal does, but even if she only wipes down surfaces and cleans the floor, that's still a big load off of my shoulders!

Asher in the Christmas outfit Grammy Gayle got for the boys. Too adorable!

Levi enjoying a bottle in his Christmas outfit. Finally, a pic of Levi!

Nathan getting Lego's from Kate and Eliot. Gotta love being a little kid at age 28!

Asher checking out the touch alphabet book that Aunt Kate and Uncle Eliot gave the boys.

Pausing my Christmas Eve dinner to give Levi HIS Christmas Eve dinner.

One of my Christmas presents to Nathan was the opportunity to go out and play in the snow with Kate and Eliot on the day after Christmas while I stayed home with the boys. After all, I needed to recoup some more and Nathan needed some time out of the house and away from being a daddy. Not saying he doesn't love his daddy duties, but we all need a break once a while in order to keep being good parents. So Nathan, Kate, and Eliot purchased three sleds and headed up to the Little Alps, which are just below the local ski area and are a popular sledding spot in the area.

The mountains on the way to Anthony Lakes.

Nathan sledding down the hill.

My only regret is that it looks like it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day and I haven't really gotten to go play in the snow yet this winter (besides the 15 minutes we spent schlepping through the snow to get our tree). It was, however, wonderful to just stay home and relax with my boys and my mom. We watched Mamma Mia, ate Mac & Cheese, and then she watched the boys while I slept so I could stay awake for tonight's graveyard shift.

All in all, Christmas break was a lot of fun, despite being sick and it was wonderful to have my parents, Nathan's parents, his sister and her husband all here to celebrate the boys' first Christmas with us. One thing's for sure, Levi and Asher will never be in want of love. One of the best parts of this Christmas was watching my family and Nathan's family blend together and become one big family. We shared stories, recipes, laughter, and the joy of the season. One thing's for sure, we'll have to do it again some day. Only next time, Kate, the boys will be older and I'll be able to help you with the insane planning and execution of the festivities!