Christmas 2011

Sorry this is late... I meant to post this on Christmas day but LIFE got in the way :)

This Christmas was so wonderful! Mr. T really is starting to understand the TRUE meaning of what Christmas really is ~ Jesus' birthday! Although he knows that he also very much enjoys getting presents. We did open a few presents and then sing Happy Birthday to Jesus... that was completely prompted by Mr. T (which to me is completely priceless). Peanut was completely overwhelmed! She would open one present and want to play with ONLY that present while Mr. T was all over the place opening everything!

Here is our family Christmas morning ~

Mr. T and Daddy's BIG gift this year (from Santa) was an XBox 360 with kinect ~ ok so this was really for Daddy but Mr. T is really enjoying the kinect part of it. Mr. T also got lots of clothes (which I must add he NEEDED... we have gone through a growth spurt lately and almost ALL of his clothes do not fit or are getting really tight or short), Santa also brought the Power Ranger Megazord he really wanted along with a Darth Vader/Anakin Transformer (can we say SUPER COOL!!).

Seriously isn't this COOL????

Peanut, Mommy & Daddy and baby Alexa got him a bunch of Transformers, clothes and books. Against my better judgement (and unknown to me until we wrapped it) Daddy got him a Beebe shotgun (yes JUST like the one in A Christmas Story) ~ he LOVED it, but of course has to be supervised while he plays with it... at least this is something Daddy and he can do together (sometimes I swear Ry gets these things/toys because he is reliving his youth and more excited than Mr. T is lol). He got some educational items (thanks Auntie Lisa and Nana for the science items and books). He also got some games, a cap gun, more Transformers, more Power Ranger toys, and 3 different Star Wars light sabers ~ HE MADE OUT!!! Miss Peanut... so overwhelmed with all the new things got (from Santa) a bunch of Sesame Street characters, the Sesame Street play house for the characters, a baby stroller, babies (3 total - from Mr. T and the Riveras and Nin & Uncle Ron), clothes (again something she NEEDED ~ these kids are growing like WEEDS!!) She got some books, a My Little Pony (with a Mommy, Sissy and Baby ponies in it), Elmo blocks (educational), Princess wand (educational which she loves), Minnie dress up doll (thanks Mom, I was going to get this for her but didn't... you read my mind), Abby Cadabby talking doll, phones (this girl gabs on the phone already), music toys (again she is a rockstar and LOVES anything music) and one of her most favorite toys ~ the princess ride-on toy (she picked out with Nana) from Great Papa (Papa Hamilton). THANK YOU to all of you (I cannot say this enough) who thought about our kids during this Christmas season... your gifts are so so so appreciated! Taking a minute to send something during this economy or give something to them is priceless and seriously THANK YOU!!! (btw thank you notes are going to be in the mail soon!)

I had the pleasure of preparing dinner this year... I actually LOVE to cook but sometimes hate preparing for it because I get so tired but honestly a home cooked meal is so much better (just wish Ry would step it up sometimes lol)! Anyways I made my famous (I say that because Ry absolutely LOVES it... more than restaurants lol) prime rib! It was so yummy and not to boast cooked to perfection! Add potatoes and asparagus (broccoli for the guys cause they HATE it) and Golden Corral yeast rolls and you are talking a PERFECT Christmas dinner!! So literally right after I made our traditional cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast I got to cooking the prime rib. I also made my guacamole for the guys and buffalo chicken dip for everyone else ~ gotta have munchies!

My parents came over around 12pm; the minute that they got there Mr. T wanted to open more presents (see we made him wait to open all of their presents, even though they were already at our house until they got there) but he had to wait a little longer until Auntie Brandi, Domi and Marshall got there. Once they got there it was chaos! LITERALLY!! I was so overwhelmed with the mess I literally had to leave the room... I don't know why I was the only one who cared whether the living room was clean or not but I did! Anyways here are more pictures of the chaos ~

SERIOUSLY Pure chaos!!!

How cute is she? 

I hope for a minute you all set aside the gifts and the material things to stop and really ponder what the real meaning of Christmas is this year. We are so blessed with so much and it is amazing to see our family truly understand and appreciate the REAL meaning of Christmas (we definitely took that minute to think about this). Much love and happiness to all of you ~ MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!