The Brown Family's Christmas

Well, Christmas has come & gone. Can you believe it? We hustle & bustle. We plan & save. Then, in an instant...it's over.

The past 2 Christmases have definitely been the best ones that I think Brian and I have ever experienced. There truly is nothing like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child. Seriously. NOTHING like it :) To hear the 'Is it Christmas yet?' & 'Can I open just one present?'...and then see their happy, joy filled faces on Christmas morning....it's just priceless!! The funniest is that you spend all of this money, and the one toy that they are happiest with is the one that cost $5!! This year, Dakota's screeching moment came when he opened his Incredible Hulk roaring, punching glove things. You know...the ones that you wear like boxing gloves & they make noise when you punch things, like 'you're making me angry' & 'you won't like me when I'm angry'. I seriously thought the kid was going to cry tears of joy!!! LOL :0)

We had some fun on Christmas Eve and the day before baking. Dakota & I made a Gingerbread House. That was a lot of fun! We ate a little bit along the way though :) On Christmas Eve we made some cookies to take to Grandma & Grandpa Brown's house. Dakota & Daddy rolled the dough & cut out the cookies. Dakota & I decorated them. This is something that I was happy to start as a tradition with my son last year. I hope that it will be something that he goes on to do with his children one day!

Daddy & Dakota cutting the dough

The cookies that Dakota decorated :)

Mommies Cookies

Dakota with our GingerBread House

Every Christmas Eve we go to Brian's parents house. This year was not any different :) We enjoyed our usual casual dinner....deli meats, veggie tray, my mother in-laws Tuna Mac (the best!) & for dessert.....Banana Pudding & no-bake cookies! YUMMY!!! Of course, Dakota wanted to open presents as soon as we walked in the door! Then he, along with Grandpa's help, started pressuring all of us to hurry up and eat so that we could move on to presents! LOL Dakota got his first Bible from Grandma & Grandpa Brown & a cool chair that he can use to watch TV & play video games on! He also received a remote control truck from cousin Sarah & her boyfriend Brian, & some great educational stuff from Aunt Rhonda & Uncle Robin (thanks guys!). We had a nice time afterward playing Scattergories (I think Sarah had the most fun, since she seemed to do well at it....she is VERY creative with her answers! LOL).

Dakota driving his new Truck

Christmas Day my parents came over for a little while. It was nice to spend some time with them! They brought Dakota a couple of things too...my mom made Dakota (and the other grand-kids) afgans & pillows. Here is a pic of Dakota cuddling up with Grandma. He loves his new blanket & has been cuddling up with it on his new chair all weekend! :)

Cuddling with Grandma Smith

Kisses & hugs for Grandpa

It was a great Christmas! The only gift that was not well received.....the cold that Brian ended up with on Christmas Day and is trying to get rid of. :( Poor guy. We were going to go to the Rec Center & do some things over the weekend, but he has not been well all weekend long. Back to work he goes tomorrow....but hopefully he will feel better for the long weekend that he has off over New Years!! Feel Better Honey!