Christmas 2008

I am SO late in posting this, I know. Sorry for the delay! We had a busy Christmas visiting with family, and things got off to a busy start with the new year. But really, I was also a little bit lazy. Christmas, overall, was wonderful! We all had a great time first in Madison visiting with Grandma Reinsel and Aunt Sarah, and then we had fun in Delafield visiting with the Graham side of the family. I don't have all of the pictures that we took - especially not all of them from Delafield yet, but I figured I should at least post what I have to get something out there.

Let's see - highlights from Madison were: Chris and I got to go out to lunch to one of our favorite restaurants (Paisan's), Chris and his mom got to go to a Badger basketball game, the boys had fun playing with all of their new toys, we played some fun board games, we ate lots of yummy meals and cookies, we watched some movies, and we all enjoyed opening presents. It was very nice and relaxing! Unfortunately, Jack got an ear infection so we had to find a doctor to get some medicine for him while we were there, and Chris got the flu (from a bug the kids had earlier in the week when we were home) and was SO sick for a day. Unfortunately, he also got Sarah sick, which we were so sorry about.

Highlights from Delafield included, visiting with lots of family, Jack and Andy getting to play with Ben and their second cousins Kailey and Kendall, opening some cool presents, playing some more board games (favorite this trip was Battlestar Galactica - it was very fun), going to the Domes in Milwaukee, Chris and I going to see Twilight, and just hanging out with everyone. I will post a second round of pictures from Delafield once I get them. The downside to this portion of our Christmas was that I got the flu on Christmas Day and had a 103 degree fever & was achy for a couple of days. But at least I didn't get anyone else sick... We had so much fun seeing everyone!

And here are a couple of pictures I swiped from Marianne's blog.

Grandma and Grandpa Graham with Jack and Ben (who are, by the way, pretty much identical in size)

Jack and Ben in matching jammies :)

Early Christmas Morning

We celebrated Christmas early today with just the kids, since we will be traveling over the real Christmas. Andy knew Santa was coming, so last night, we put magic reindeer dust (colorful glitter) out on the lawn so Santa would find our house. We also set out some cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. This morning, the boys actually slept in a little bit (until almost 8!!!) which was wonderful!

Andy was eager when he saw the presents downstairs so we got right to opening them. He actually helped open all of the presents, so we took our time and enjoyed each one :) Both Andy and Jack loved their toys, I got some awesome Snorkel gear from Chris for our upcoming trip, and Chris got a boardgame and clothes from me. All in all, a great start to our Holiday week! We did tell Andy that he'll have more to open in Madison and Delafield when we go to visit - he was excited about that :)

I made pancakes for breakfast, and Jack even got to try some. The rest of our day was spent at home, relaxing and playing with new toys. We're looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family this coming week!!

Visits with Grandma and Grandpa Graham

In the past couple of weeks Andy and Jack's Grandma and Grandpa Graham have come up to visit. Most recently, Grandma came up this week, which was great because Andy was sick and not up for school for a couple of days. He's feeling better now, and both boys will hopefully stay healthy through Christmas and beyond. Here are some pictures from those visits that I hadn't had a chance to post yet!

Silly face...
Cool shades Andy!

On one of his sick days with Grandma (notice the pj top - he wasn't in the mood to get totally dressed!) But he did help clean the kitchen floors :)

Jack's staring us down... Check out those 2 bottom teeth...

Both boys at once - too bad Jack was getting squirmy.

Now there's room for Jack! No big brother shoving him out of the way.

We're counting down the days till Christmas!!!

We'll be celebrating Christmas early with just the kids on Saturday morning! Santa will be making an early special delivery :)

Fun with Uncle Brad and Aunt Karissa

Brad and Karissa decided to come up for a visit this past weekend! They arrived Friday evening and we had dinner in since Jack is usually ready for bed by 7. Andy was pretty tired by the evening since he had skipped nap, but once Brad and Karissa arrived he found his second wind! He was showing off his toys, jumping on the air mattress in the basement, and having a blast with Teddy & Bailey. Once he went to bed, we stayed up and played a couple of board games. In the morning we had french toast and Andy & Jack got to play a little more before they headed home. Thanks for visiting guys!!!

Jack was in his jammies before they arrived. Might as well be comfy!

Andy (and the dogs) were letting loose in the basement. Teddy successfully went through the tunnel. Bailey, not wanting to let Teddy show him up, also tried, but got stuck. Bailey then decided to climb to the top of Andy's play gym (and go down the slide) to show off his agility talents!

We actually got both boys to sit pretty nicely with Brad and Karissa. I couldn't decide which picture I liked better so here are both of them. I like Jack looking straight into the camera in the first picture, but I think Andy looks cute with Karissa in the second :)



Andy LOVES his Aunt Kari. They were red hooded sweatshirt twins on Saturday.