The Big Day Part 2

We always enjoy spending part of Christmas Day at my parents, where it is inevitable that there will be good food, fun times with the cousins and lots of fun.

My brother and his family were driving up on Christmas from their home in Kansas. We made it to my parents a little bit before them, which proved to be the perfect time for us to squeeze in a photo of the kids and their grandparents before the holiday hoopla started.

Soon enough, Jack and Grace had arrived. We're so lucky that all the cousins are close (close enough) in age and get along so well. I didn't grow up with many cousins that I regularly saw, and I'm so glad that my kids instead see them and consider their cousins such good friends.

Grandma & Grandpa gave the kids many great presents. They know them so well, and sometimes I think they do a better job of finding "perfect gifts" than we do. (I make myself feel better by reminding myself that we both work fulltime and spend every free minute shuffling kids around to activities, etc. When I'm retired, I'm sure I'll be a better shopper!) G loved his new Lego sets and magic kit, but he was especially excited to see this book. He loves this series and couldn't wait to read the latest book!

K got new boots, cute clothes, books and even a little sewing machine that she is eager to try out (Grandma is going to help her sew a dress for Ivy!) She was very happy to get Argos, who is Marie-Grace's dog in the American Girl book set that K and I are reading. She is really on her way to collecting a little American girl pet store.

Grandma made N a Yankees blanket for his bed, which was in addition to the Yankees pillow pet that he got. His bed is now officially decking out in his favorite team's gear.

My parents also continued the tradition of getting the kids new Yankees shirts for Christmas and then taking a photo of them with my dad. My dad is a huge Yankees fan, and I always love this annual photo of the kids with t-shirts over their "fancy" holiday clothes:

I was glad that we remembered to take a picture of my brother and me with my parents this year. Again, very thankful that he was home for the holidays this year.

Beautiful weather (the kids were bummed that there was no white Christmas this year, but I was thankful for clear roads that made travel so easy for all.) and a wonderful day.