There's No Place Like Home: We Wish You A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Let me start out by saying there are an obscene amount of pictures in this post. Sorry! It has been a while since I posted and here goes nothing! Now that I have a grip (a very small grip...probably more like a finger-hold) on how to use my new computer, I am loving it! The photo editing alone is worth it!

These first few picture are from the kids Christmas program. They both did an amazing job. I had to move around to get some pictures of Annah, but know that they both sang their little hearts out. This mommy was so proud!

There's my daddy!

Here are 2 pictures I love. The first is straight out of the camera, the 2nd I edited. What do you think?

We had a blast at The Columbia Fam's house making x-mas cookies. The Boys and Me were there too (as well as a few other friends). There was quite a mess and I think Laura might be cleaning up sprinkles until next Christmas, but the kids sure had fun!

Then, of course came Christmas! Santa (and Gramme, Grandaddy, Rosie, and Poppa) were very good to Annah and Liam this year. I am just now getting my house to not look like the inside of a Toys R Us (a Toys R Us that had a bomb go off in it, anyway). We decided last year that Baby Jesus got 3 presents on the first Christmas, so we would follow the same rule. Annah got a baby station (one of those things with a baby bathtub, bed, highchair, etc all together), a 2 wheel scooter, and a Tinkerbell water fountain. Liam got the "buzzwightyerscooter," a grill, and a Leapster of his very own (in an attempt to stop world war 3 that was threatening over the one Leapster we already had). Note to self, next year at least brush Annah's hair before taking x-mas morning pictures!

This is a jar to count the money Annah has been saving for Disney World. She has been saving Will's change for the last 2 years to go have breakfast with the princesses!

I know there is a very small window of opportunity left while Annah and Liam will still believe in the magic of Christmas. There is something almost sad in Liam's excitement about Santa bringing what he really wanted, because I know that in a few years that magic will be gone. Doubt will creep in. Christmas will always be special and we will always be together, but I can't help but feel a little pang of loss as another year passes. That said, I will hold on to the magic of this Christmas for as long as I can!

Note the halo on my sweet angel

Then, as if all that was not enough, it snowed!!!!! I have decided that snow of the weekend of Christmas definitely counts as a white Christmas. We had so much fun and the only downside is that all the outside toys they got for Christmas had to be ridden inside the house (almost drove me insane). But there was still plenty of fun to be had outside...snowball fights, snow angels, snowman, and jumping on a snow covered trampoline (which if you have never tried it, really is a lot of fun)!

I have this same picture of Liam in front of this door every year since he's been born looking at the snow. I am afraid he is going to think this is what to expect every year!