Christmas 2011

CHRISTMAS EVE

Our yearly tradition on Christmas is to go to Mass, and then Pat's parents house in Colfax. We we eat a meal of "appetizer" food and open gifts together. We usually get home around midnight, and the kids are very ready to go to sleep and wait for Santa to come.

Here is our family picture this year

This is one of Pat's sister's, Dawn and her family.

Don't look now John and Mary Jane, but there is a BEAR right behind you.

Our friends poke fun every year on facebook, that it looks like we have Christmas at Cabela's! We used to have it in the living room, but the family has grown, so we now have it in John's trophy room with a nice warm fire.

Ella was happy with a pretty box!

Ellie had her eye on this at Disney World, but it was too big to bring home on the plane. Grandma and Papa got it for her.

Hugs for Gramma

G&G Higbie have been adding to John's farm collection the last couple Christmases. He was SO excited to get a combine.

Hugs for Papa

Adia scored a keyboard from G&G!

We got Madysen an Air Swimmer Shark

A Rapunzel Doll for Ella from her Godparents, Dawn and Joe

Claire's favorite is Ariel

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Santa came! Stockings First...

All Adia wanted from Santa was Uggs. He did not disappoint. :)

Ella loves the Ikea chair at John's school, so we got her one of her own

Pat surprised me with a Mini-Glock. Nothing says I love you on Christmas moring like cold steel!

I got Pat a "Dirty Harry" gun (he liked it, of course)

CHRISTMAS DAY

We celebrate Christmas Day with my side, and over the last couple years a new tradition of wearing jammies has started. I think it started with me one year because everyone showed up, and I hadn't had time to get dressed. Then Amber and Mom started wearing them. Now everyone wears Christmas jams, even the guys!

Here are the Cousins:

John 5, Hannah 8, Ella 2, Karter 9 mos, Alivia 4, Adia 7

Karter's 1st Christmas

We got Hannah a Barbie wedding set

Gramma Lynne and Buck got Adia a jewelry book FULL of ballet knick knacks, stickers, dress up jewelry. She LOVED it.

Ella loved her dolly from G&G

Livi is into Littlest Pet Shop, so we got her an airplane to fly them around

John is not Boba Fett, thanks to Grandpa Gaddy

Although I have no pictures to prove it, after feeding my family a turkey dinner, opening gifts, visiting, etc, they were JUST starting to leave when Pat's family started filing IN! The Packers played a Christmas game, and our house is the place to take in a game. So I quickly cleaned up turkey dinner dish mess, and got ready for Pat to bring in the pork roast that was cooking all day on our green egg grill. I think the last person left around midnight. Such fun, but I was totally wiped out! Another holiday in the books.