JOYOUS. That is the word to describe the Christmas of 2011. Against all odds, all our standby travelers were able to fly in to spend the holiday with us in Denver. Mom and Dad flew in from Phoenix and Thad and Kelly flew in from Spokane. We all believed it to be a long shot, but they all made it safely. It was the best Christmas present ever! All those weeks of baking, decorating and anticipating were well worth the effort. We hadn't spent a Christmas with them in NINE YEARS! It was so awesome to rekindle that Christmas spirit and reminisce about all the wonderful Christmas' of the past. We hope they enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having them. We truly 'broke in' our house and filled it with wonderful, holiday memories.
Time to relax and enjoy the company.
We completed not one, but TWO, puzzles in their 5 day visit!
Kelly enjoyed having the time to relax and do a hobby she hadn't had time for in years!
Mom enjoyed herself by staying warm and cozy in the house.
And the night we'd all been waiting for......Christmas Eve! Sven had to work the night shift (which was totally weird, but we had to go with it....) so it was up to us to keep track of Santa's whereabouts on the Norad Santa Tracker. Nikolas was in charge of that. He felt the urgency to get to bed once Santa reached South America!
It's so hard to believe that Nikolas is old enough to read us "The Night Before Christmas".
We were all ready for the night with Santa's milk and cookies all laid out.
That's night's sleep was brutal! Nikolas woke me up at 0300 to tell me he couldn't sleep, at 0410 to tell me he couldn't sleep, at 0430 to tell me that his Nintendo DS wasn't working (?!?!), and at 0500 to tell me that he'd made Christmas cards for everyone. By the time Sven got home at 0630, I wasn't sure who among us was the most tired!! I hadn't had a Christmas Eve that rough since he was a baby! I'm wondering if that lack of sleep is what lies ahead of us next Christmas Eve if we really do have a baby in the house by then...
Grandma and Nikolas Christmas morning waiting to see what Santa brought.
And finally- the Santa stash! Was Santa good to Nikolas? We hope so!
Mom feeding Rascal his Christmas carrot.
Thank you, Atlanta Grandma, for helping Nikolas to promote to the Black Belt program.
(This karate stuff is not cheap!!)
Nikolas has been asking for a football stand for MONTHS.
He finally got it for Christmas.
Pap-pap and Mary Jo-- YOU ROCK!
Steelers gear is always a hit with these boys (big and small!).
Nikolas loves his new jersey!
Our little Steelers gangsta....
Sven had a fit with this pose.....Nikolas wearing the
Roethlisberger jersey while doing the Tebow.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Darryl, Jackie, Kyla, Dave and Tee.....you never miss a Christmas!
Thank you so much for Nikolas' gifts!
He's going to enjoy playing with them!!
A big family Christmas! We're all so thrilled!!
A Christmas with Jaeger to endure the standby flights home......
even MORE thrilling!!
Here we all are with Nikolas' handmade Christmas cards.
He made one for each of us and they were all different.
As a mom, that was definitely my favorite gift!
Who is that I spy behind the Christmas tree?!?
Abby and her present.... a scratcher.....
now maybe she'll stop clawing on my office curtains?!?!
Please.......
A good time was had by all this Christmas...
as can be seen by this cute little video:
Our Christmas table set with Grandma's china.
I have so much and so little to say about that....
I'm so happy that the first time we've used it has been for all of us to
gather around the Christmas table. Grandma would have liked that.
I'm so lucky to have a husband who enjoys cooking (thanks for that influence, mom!).
Sven prepared a Christmas feast for us. It was DELICIOUS!!
He worked so hard and we were so thankful and grateful!
Now this is funny....and I'm sure dad's going to have a few words with me for posting this.....but doesn't he look adorable wearing Kelly's pink scarf?! Thad and Kelly gave Nikolas a rocket for Christmas and our snowbird didn't have enough winter gear to combat the cold, Colorado weather. This is just too cute! He must like Kelly, because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have worn a pink scarf if I'd offered it to him. Ha ha ha!
I tried taking a video of Nikolas' rocket blasting into space.
Well, I got the space at least!
After Christmas, Thad and Kelly were able to fly out on the first flight they attempted. Mom and Dad have yet to be so lucky. As I type this, they're at the Denver airport. They've missed 3 flights in the last 2 days. Maybe this will be their lucky day? Or will it be ours if I get to go pick them up and talk them into staying a few more?! Time will tell. I hope you all had as merry a Christmas as we did and that you were able to spend it with the ones you love. Happy Holidays and best of everything in 2012!
