Ringing in 2011

This past weekend we rang in 2011 and celebrated a second round of Christmas with Aunt Lee, Uncle Bob, Elsa and Claire. 

The kids had a blast with their cousins, I think they played non-stop the entire 4 days they were here!  

Here Elsa and Carter are trying their luck with Mario Cart on the wii.  

Mia and Claire opted to sit and watch the wii games.

 And there was lots of playing in the play room.

The little girls also enjoyed it when Uncle Bob tried to get some work done on his computer, they were able to talk him into watching Elmo videos instead.

On New Year's Eve, the grown-ups were able to get away and head to East Lansing for the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game.  We had excellent seats, only 4 rows up right behind the basket.  It was an awesome game, if you missed it, MSU beat the golden gophers.  This was a much needed win for our Spartans!

While we were at the game, the kids were having an awesome New Year's Eve party of their own with Grandpa and Grandma Jernstadt.  This party was complete with streamers, noise makers, and lots of playing.  Grandpa and Grandma made this night really special for the kids and were are so appreciative!

  

By the time we got home that night, the kids were sound asleep and didn't even stir when we kissed them goodnight.

The next day we celebrated Christmas with, you guessed it, more presents!  Carter got a really cool Tag reading system from Aunt Lee, Uncle Bob, Elsa, and Claire, and Mia got some adorable additions for her kitchen including a coffee pot, blender, toaster, and her very own tea set! 

More present opening!

Carter and Mia also got some really neat gifts from Grandpa and Grandma J. including a construction worker play set, a cow backpack, some very loud musical instruments, a rescue pack full of cool adventure tools, and more!

We already miss you guys, thanks for coming to visit and for all the cool new toys!

Merry Christmas!

The kids' excitement for Christmas definitely made things fun this year.  I thought Carter was going to burst with anticipation for the big morning.  Luckily they didn't wake up at 5am as I imagined, they actually let us sleep in until around 7am!  

We started out with stockings and were quickly buried in candy, play-doh, crayons, puzzles, and more.

Then we made our way to the family room where Santa had delivered about a million presents for the kids.  The "big ticket items" this year were a kitchen for Mia and a multi-purpose table for Carter.  Dave made the table for Carter, complete with spacious rolling bins that fit underneath.  This was actually a present for me as well, as it helps organize and clean up a lot of legos, cars, and tracks that normally clog up the play room.

This cool semi and jet combo came all the way from Florida - from Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin.

This baby doll also came from Grandma and Grandpa B.  We sure did miss seeing you this year, but we loved the presents and can't wait to see you in February!

After the morning round of presents, Grandma Webb, Uncle Mark, Grandpa Mike, Uncle Josh, and Josh's girlfriend, Melissa, came over for round two of presents.  The kids were spoiled again with tons of cool toys and clothes from everyone.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Christmas Eve Sledding

Christmas Eve day we took the kids sledding across the street from our house.  We had a blast!