Colin and I really thought this would be the year that the kids would wake us up on Christmas morning, instead of the other way around. We were wrong, though! Actually, I think it would have happened if we would have waited just a little longer, but we woke up at 6, and due to the busy, busy day we had ahead of us (and being excited to see what Santa brought them), we went ahead and woke them up! Cady was so excited to see that she had indeed been on the "Nice List" and that Santa brought her a Barbie Dream House, Ken doll and new Snow White bicycle helmet:
Colton, too, must have been very good because he got a new guitar (a real one that he will start taking lessons on in January), two GI Joes, and a new bicycle helmet.
That jolly ol' elf himself also brought them a sandart kit and "Camp" the boardgame to share!
Stockings consisted of a new Tinkerbell movie for Cady, Ice Age 3 for Colton, a new Leapster game for each of them, toothbrushes, books and a whole bunch of goodies! We then tore into our gifts to and from each other.
Colton was excited about his new Wii Sports Resort games:
What could this be?
Speed stack cups (camouflaged!!) for Colton!
Cady is hard at work.
Colin and the kids got me a gorgeous new zebra print purse! I LOVE it!
Still working...
A Fur Real cat and kitten - just what she wanted! It is soooo lifelike, too - amazing! Closest thing to a real cat that will ever be in our house! :-)
Colton tearing into his big present:
It was a ropin' dummy to practice his ropin' skills on. The best thing about it?? His Daddy made that special for him!
Colin is wondering what this big present from me could be!?!?
Something I have wanted to get him for a couple of years now - his own 3D deer target to practice his archery on! He really liked it (and so did Colton) but we were disappointed to find the antlers missing when we opened it. Cabela's better get those in the mail pretty darn quick!!
Piper wasn't too sure about "Princess" as Cady named her! It was hilarious watching her reactions as it blinked, purred, meowed and lifted its paw!
My friend, Mindy, made these adorable pillow cases for travel-size pillows for the kids and they loved them:
Then, it was time for our annual Christmas morning family pictures in front of the tree, before getting cleaned up and loaded up to head to Grammy's and Grampa's to do it all over again!
He shot twice and got the can on the 2nd shot! He was very excited to see how proud his Papa Jimmy and Daddy were!
Cady wasn't too crazy about the gunshots!!
Afterwards, they got the .22 out and let him shoot that. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tammi had bought him a cool little target for Christmas, so they tried it out. He had a great time!!
This was Piper's first time around shooting and she didn't like it much, neither! We had to keep her in the back of the pickup so she wouldn't run off!
The great thing about doing it there was that Trevor got to take part (Jaycee was sleeping).
Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tammi, Trev & Jayce gave him a laser tag set:
Gramma Suzy and Papa Jimmy gave him a cool science kit that has a microscope and all kinds of neat stuff:
They also gave him a telescope, which he has wanted for 2 years now. Actually, I found out that he had picked all this out of Gramma Suzy's JC Penny's catalog back in November!!
Trevor was so cute because he couldn't keep his other eye shut without holding it!!
It was a very nice early birthday celebration! Thanks Mom and Dad and Jeff and Tammi for making it so special for Colton!
Jeff, Tammi, Jayce & Trev:
Us:
Papa & Gramma with the kiddos:
Afterwards, it is always time to throw rocks on the frozen ice!!
The kids had fun playing in the snow, too!
Here are the 4 cousins before tearing into the rest of the gifts:
Jeff and his family (Jaycelyn is talking on the phone that came with her new kitchen):
Papa and Gramma with the kiddos:
Our family:
Nana with her great-grandkids:
Then, it was time to get busy and open!!
Aunt Tammi made the beautiful bow/barrette holder shown below for Cady to hang in her room. She also made all the bows that are on it!!
As usual, Dad made us all something special. This year was something we had never seen before. Jeff and Tammi and Colin and I each got a beautiful cross that reads "God Bless this Home" with ours having three crosses in the center and Jeff's and Tammi's having a deer. Gramma got one with three crosses and 2 kokopellis. I can't wait to hang mine in the entryway with all my other crosses, but this one is going in the very center!!
We then had a great Christmas Dinner of pork loin and all of our favorite dishes. Their neighbor, Dave, who is like family to us, and his girlfriend and one of their other neighbors joined us for dinner, so it was quite the party!! A really great day!
Colton got the globe he had been asking for from Auntie and Parker:
Parker took some time and created stuff with playdough with Cady for a while:
Little Luke hung out with his Uncle Colin and just talked to him and smiled for quite a while! 
The boys got up in the pecan trees and shook some pecans down, too!
Cady spent quite a while gathering them off the ground, but then got bored and went to play!
It was a great day!
That jolly ol' elf himself also brought them a sandart kit and "Camp" the boardgame to share!
Stockings consisted of a new Tinkerbell movie for Cady, Ice Age 3 for Colton, a new Leapster game for each of them, toothbrushes, books and a whole bunch of goodies! We then tore into our gifts to and from each other.
It was a ropin' dummy to practice his ropin' skills on. The best thing about it?? His Daddy made that special for him!
What a great Christmas morning we had!!