Holland Christmas

Normally when I wake up the day after Christmas I always feel a little depressed because the holiday is over and some of the excitement was gone. It was great this year to wake up knowing we got to celebrate all over again.  The boys were super excited to go over to Nana and Pop's house for Christmas. 

Nana made her fun game for opening presents again this year. 

Crazy brothers 

Harrison loved his new tractor and we love Green Toys. Check them out parents!

A gift for baby Davis. Can't wait till next Christmas when there are 3 little boys in the family!!!

Poor Rod got stuck putting this thing together

Talk about multitasking 

H has loved this toy. Every morning he insists on eating his snack in it. 

Taking a break to read Elmo

Nana and Pop gave the boys this cool work bench which they have really enjoyed!

Aunt Whitney or "Nit Nee" and James playing Magna Tiles. These are really fun to play with.

Playing the wii with Uncle Rod

That night we got to celebrate with some more of the Holland side Always a great time with family! And best of all we didn't have to pack our stuff up and fly back home the next day. It was a lot easier to load up the car and drive an hour!!!

Countdown to Christmas

The last few days before Christmas were spent doing lots of fun activities and spending time with people we love. We went to family get togethers for both sides of the family.  We were back and forth, kids were here and there. It was a busy time! 

Wilmington family Christmas 

There are no words to describe how obsessed H is with Georgia or Gigi as he calls her

James's salt dough ornaments. He was so proud to give them away

 The kids and I went to Greenville a little earlier than Ryan since he was working. I was excited to get to see Kathleen (after almost two years!) and her sweet girls. 

I finally got to meet Hazel. 

James thought he was hot stuff sleeping in his new sleeping bag 

H loves selfies 

 Two days before Christmas I got a little hair cut. 

James got to have a sleepover by himself with Nana and Pop which gave us some time with Harrison. 

Harrison was obsessed with this Santa or "Ho Ho"

And also this reindeer who he is feeding

Another generation learning to make bread 

Snuggles

We took this picture on Christmas Eve and Harrison insisted on having Santa and the banana in it. 

 On Christmas Eve we traveled to Mt. Olive to celebrate with Ryan's Granny and extended family.  

James and Nana made this cake to announce the gender for baby Fincannon

Funny face 

Sweet boy 

It's a boy! To quote James, "Mommy I TOLD you that is what it is."  

Singing some Christmas tunes 

The boy seriously loves his selfies! 

Uh oh- that is not your present to open! 

I think Harrison was about done at this point. 

In typical Holland children fashion Harrison cried the ENTIRE way home. Towards the end we finally turned up the music super loud and just started dancing and laughing out of misery. What else do you do, haha. Later that night he gave me the Christmas gift of hanging out with him from 12:30 to 2:30 at night. I guess he wanted to stay up and watch for Santa. I don't think I have slept through the night on Christmas Eve in the past five years. Oh well! Tis the season! 

Christmas at Home

We decided to stretch Christmas out a little this year and it was great! I honestly don't know how we could have fit it all into one day, and I felt like we all enjoyed it so much more this way.  We decided to do our family Christmas the Saturday before the holiday. That Friday night Ryan started putting together the "big" gift- a kitchen set. I think he was not very pleased with me when he opened it up and saw all the pieces...

That's a lot of screws

Some people may think it's a little odd to get these boys a kitchen set but here was my thought process. 1.  I love for them to have toys that encourage imagination and pretend play.  2.  I wanted something that was safe for Harrison and that both could play with. 3.  One day their wives will be super thankful if these boys grow up to be men who can cook! 

So we got the delux kitchen along with a cookie making set, pizza party kit, and the pots and pans. We also got a new shopping cart because ours was destroyed in the move. The boys have LOVED playing with it! Hours of entertainment!

We opened presents bright and early that morning.

Every year Ryan and I get an ornament to represent the past year. I had someone paint a picture of our new house to represent our move. 

James had asked for a really big puzzle. I confess that I had a hard time putting this thing together with him!

Harrison's present to Mommy. 

James pretty much unwrapped the majority of Harrison's gifts

James picked this out for me for my present. :) 

Family photo with the self timer

We figured out the puzzle!

After we opened our presents I made a special breakfast and then we all watched the best present of all- the video that Ryan made! Every year he picks out some of his favorite pictures and makes a video for us. I love to see what he chooses. Oftentimes the pictures represent memories that only we understand. It is always my favorite gift! 

Every holiday is special but there was something really neat about being in our new house in our new town celebrating Christmas together.