Christmas Day

One final post to wrap up my Christmas blogging - Christmas day! Gavin had an absolute blast with Christmas this year - the lead up all the way through the big day. We started the day prepping food for later, as we hosted the Clarks at our house for the first time ever. We even made a turkey, which I was nervous about. It turned out great!

Here's Gavin first thing in the morning (after sleeping in until 9:30am!) checking out his and Grace's stockings.


Gifts, gifts, and more gifts. Santa sure was good to Gavin this year! Here he is opening the most coveted gift of all, James from Thomas the Tank Engine. He's only been talking about Santa bringing him James for about two months now. So glad the big guy delivered on this one :)

Cool cuttable food for his kitchen.

A couple gifts for Grace - solar powered butterfly lights for her tree at the cemetery.

And butterfly home decor for our house (sorry, the glare is bad).

A last minute ask from Santa - a garden gnome. He ended up being Gavin's favorite gift. He is made of plastic resin, but Gavin insists on snuggling with him when he wakes up from a nap and in the morning. The gnome also eats meals with us. Ever since seeing the movie Gnomeo and Juliet, Gavin really likes gnomes. Now he has his own Lions Gnomeo.

A gift for Momma...oh-la-la!

And one for Dadda - double oh-la-la (Socks, so exciting! Granted they are "fancy" socks!)

Toddler in a bag...sorry, had to include this one because it is just so darn cute!

Christmas with the Clarks. Only one photo taken, as it was all happening so fast. Huge contrast between the Gavin and Clark Christmas gatherings - the Gavin's open one gift at a time, spending at least 5 minutes discussing each gift (even the small ones). The Clarks rip through everything in about 15 minutes total. So, one photo. I did get some video of the cousins opening their iPod Touches...so excited about them!

Gavin had a blast hanging with his cousins, as usual, for the day. He really thrives on the energy and has so much fun. Christmas was very different this year without Mark there. His presence was missed greatly. Brad, Gavin and I visited Grace and Mark in their respective cemeteries on Christmas eve. We got about 2 inches of snow the night before, so we made both Grace and Mark a little 2ish foot snowman, complete with carrot noses. It was fun to make them, even though they melted within hours. I know they both were celebrating up in heaven together. And looking down on all of us as we worked the best we could to make our Christmas a good one, all the while missing them so, so much.


Modeling his new Buzz PJs (he also got Woody). He wouldn't take them off for the rest of the evening.


That wraps up Christmas 2011. All in all, a very nice few days.

Happy New Year to all of our blog followers! 2011 was bittersweet for us - many wonderful moments. Priceless last memories with Mark. Welcoming our daughter into our lives, even if it was just for a glimpse. I'm hoping 2012 will be more on the sweet side, with less of the bitter.