holly, jolly

We enjoyed our Christmas Eve with my dad's extended family feasting, opening gifts,
singing Christmas carols to my brother over speaker phone because he didn't make it
to Virginia to celebrate with us, playing Christmas trivia, and watching my cousin's
three children and Will have a dance party and laughing until our faces hurt. It was
a wonderful whirlwind of a day spent with some of my favorite people. The only thing
better would have been to have my brother there. (There's always next year, Tyler!)

We woke up Christmas morning to gifts under the tree, sunshine flooding in the windows,
coffee and hot cocoa with cinnamon rolls and bacon wrapped cocktail sausages, a super
cute little boy who was very excited that Santa had visited. My in-laws arrived, and
we taught Will how to open his presents. He wasn't quite sure what to make of all of
it and got so fixated on the gift he had just opened, so we had to hide things to get
him interested in the next package. He got cars and trucks, trains and train tracks,
books and more books, balls, a slide with sports center, clothing, his first Lego set,
and several other toys. Matt got a new iPad2 that we have been playing with. I was the
lucky recipient of not one, but two, Nikkor 55-300mm VR telephoto lenses because my
in-laws and parents had the same idea. I will be exchanging one of them for a prime
50mm f1.4 lens. After a little "assembly required" time, the grandmas showed Will how
to use his toys and the grandpas scratched off lottery tickets that Matt got for his
dad. After a big dinner, we took a short walk and I tried out my telephoto lens.

I can honestly say this has been my favorite Christmas to date. I am so happy we were
able to spend the holiday with both of our families. It was fun to see my parents as
grandparents for the first time on Christmas morning, and to watch all of our parents
just beaming with pride while watching Will in action. Will was so happy that all the
attention was on him, and he was such a little character. I am not sure that he really
"got" the whole Santa and Christmas thing, but he sure did have fun pretending. He did,
however, learn all about Baby Jesus from my Cousin's daughter Lizzie, who kept sharing
her Christmas book with him and pointing out the baby in the manger. So precious!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and I already can't wait for next year!