Christmas 4

We traveled to SD the weekend after Christmas to celebrate with my family.  We got to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the early afternoon.  Everyone was ready to go soon after we walked into the door and 15 minutes later we were sitting around the Christmas tree opening presents!

Once again, Punky and Buddy got a lot of great gifts.  Punky's big gift from Grandma and Grandpa was an American Girl doll with a hearing aid.  She was so excited to have a doll that looks just like her!



Buddy got a bunch of great toys, books, and clothes.  Grandma Debbie found a Knight costume for Buddy after she heard that Buddy likes to dress up right along with Punky and her girlfriends.  He always calls himself a "prince" but wears a princess dress and twirls around!  Now he can be a real "handsome prince"!



Punky and Buddy's cousin, Leah, got a unicycle for Christmas and was excited to show us her skills. I even tried it out... I couldn't even let go of the wall...



Auntie Shannon surprised everyone with gifts that she had crocheted.  I got a beautiful sweater, Grandma got some slippers, and everyone else a hat!



That night, we ate pizza, swam in the "hot pool" and put the kids to bed.  The adults stayed up late and played cards.

The next day was a great day just hanging out and spending time with each other.  It was the kind of day I wish we could do more often.  Grandpa took us on a hike through the "woods".  In reality, we took the long way to get the mail.  We watched Leah on the swing and went sledding down a teeny hill.  Buddy was on the lookout for a black bear. 

Uncle Nate's blog debut

Later on, we watched a movie and did some coloring.



Around 5 o'clock that night, Buddy wandered around searching for me, calling out "Mama, I need you.  Mama, I need you."  I picked him up and he buried his head into my shoulder.  We rocked for a little bit and soon Buddy was sound asleep.  I made Derek take a photo of us because I know this was probably the last time my little guy would fall asleep in my arms like that.  I can still hear his little voice saying "mama" and feel him snuggling in tight.  Oh, how I wish he'd stay little forever.



It typically takes Buddy a good 20 minutes to wake up from a nap, so we decided to lay him down while we ate the prime rib and twice-baked potato dinner that Grandma had made.  After we were done with our delicious meal, I woke Buddy up so he could eat.  He was not having it.  We ended up putting on his pjs and putting him down for the night.  He woke up around 11pm.  We were all playing cards (again! so much fun!) so Buddy sat with me and had some crackers and milk.  He went back to sleep when we did around midnight and slept until 7 the next morning.  Poor guy must've been tired!

It was a great weekend!  How I wish we lived closer so we could get together like this more often!