Christmas Celebrations

Alright, we did it - 6 Christmas celebrations and one Griffins game in one week! We started in Jackson last Saturday and ended in Rockford this Saturday. I do have to say that this year has been the least stressful by far. I told myself I would not get stressed out, and I didn't (too much anyway)!!! We really enjoyed spending time with our families and can't wait to do it again next year (but we are thankful that it is about 365 days away)! As always, I did not take pictures of the kids with my parents, or Rob's dad... and you already saw the pictures of us with his mom... someday we will take the time to take pictures - maybe when opening presents isn't so very exciting! Hope everyone else had a beautiful Christmas as well. Wishing everyone a prosperous and Happy New Year (you will find us ringing in the new year at the CLUTCH show - hooray)!

Christmas Eve - Amelia and Isaac and Irelynn

Irelynn searching for the best present under the tree

Christmas morning

I wonder if she will do this with her glasses someday (if she needs them)

Miss Irelynn's new stroller from Santa

Sir Isaac opening his stocking gifts (even though our stockings are in storage!)

The peanuts in their matching jammies!

Aunt Jenny with Isaac's Optimus Prime voice changing helmet onChay with the Clone Trooper voice changing helmet and Chris with the Optimus Prime voice changing helmet and Isaac with his Indiana Jones hat!

Gee Gee and Isaac arm wrestling

Kylie and Isaac trying to catch t-shirts or hot dogs or something of that nature!

Griff dressed up as Santa

My new favorite picture of me and the hubby!

Isaac playing the Wii this morning!

Oh miss... she loves fabric so much - when she sees something new, she smells it and rubs it on her nose - it's so cute!

Irelynn trying out her baby's bottle

Irelynn feeding the bottle to her baby

Wondering what Santa brought her

Christmas with the Gullivers

Christmas in Jackson

We had a beautiful drive to Jackson on Friday night - the kids didn't sleep a wink in anticipation of all of the fun that they were going to have at Grandma Sherry's and Grandpa John's! We stopped by Wendy's for dinner and Isaac was a hoot at the drive-thru. We asked him what he wanted and he said Chicken Nuggets and Gogurt and Chocolate Milk. When we repeated it to him it went like this:
Mom: So, you want Chicken Nuggets...
Isaac: No, a hamburger with ketchup
Mom: Okay, so you want a hamburger with just ketchup on it?
Isaac: No, I want ketchup and the bun and the meat part, too!
We were laughing pretty hard and did not expect him to eat it, because he usually will only eat chicken nuggets! However, he chowed it down and ate all of his gogurt and some of my fries and his chocolate milk!
When we got to Sherry's, Isaac read "Love you Forever" with Grandpa John (who didn't even tear up)! and we put the Miss to bed downstairs with us. She screamed and screamed and screamed some more, so we went down there and brought the pack-n-play upstairs to Isaac's room, she fussed for a second and went right to sleep. I don't know if they will ever be able to sleep apart! We stayed up for a while talking with John and Sherry and then went to bed! We slept until about 10:30 the next morning and then had a wonderful pancake breakfast! We waited for Aaron, Katie and the girls to arrive and then we enjoyed a delicious Turkey dinner with all of the fixings! We opened gifts and had dessert and enjoyed each other until it was time to go home! Here are some pictures!

Weekend at Sherry's (not Bernie's)!!

We had such an amazingly fun weekend! We left for Lansing Friday afternoon and ate at Clara's... we sat at the booth with the three chairs in front of it.
Everybody enjoyed their meal and then, we were off to see the lighting of the tree. When we passed the bank (on foot), it said that the current temperature was 21!!!!!!!! We were bundled up to the max and once we got to the capitol, the body warmth radiating around us was quite comforting. By the time we got inside the capitol building, we were sweating (well, at least I know I was, but I was carrying an extra 20 pounds)!!

Do you like Rob's warm hat? His crafty wife made it for him ;o)

These pictures don't even come close to describing the amazing experience!

As we were watching the fireworks, Sherry and I agreed that we had never seen fireworks in the winter before. It was an amazing sight!

Governor Jennifer Granholm's office - it's still undetermined on whether or not she was in the building!

The House

One of the many chandeliers

Sir Isaac

Me and The Miss

Isaac snapped this picture of the ornate detailing on the walls

He took this one too...

For some reason, this picture caught his eye - President Ford

The next morning we watch Rob as he opened the bike rack that he wanted for his birthday!

Irelynn helping open the card (looking for money???)

Isaac cheesing it up for the camera!

We were then planning on having brunch at a restaurant in Jackson, but they closed at noon (and we didn't get up until 10 - we stayed up until 2:30 talking the night before), so we headed over to the Cracker Barrel and enjoyed a lovely breakfast there!
Irelynn learned how to drink a few weeks ago when I brought a to-go cup home from work with a pink straw in it. I caught her in action this weekend!

She really enjoyed the grits for brunch!

Rob and his mom!

Isaac and his grandma!

Grandma Sherry trying to get some kisses in...
Isaac checked out the rocking chairs outside - they were comfy!
Isaac and his Grandpa John - talkin' about this years' crop!
Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend!