Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we went to church at Adam's dad's church, then had a nice meal at his parent's house. As you can see, Adam decided he would start a new tradition of wearing a Hawaiian shirt to Christmas parties since Christmas sweaters are too hot.  I predict this will last for 2 years since he only has 2 Hawaiian shirts. Or, we might just have to go back to Hawaii for a new selection!

It was great to see Andy and Kim again too!

 Ryan was ready to open presents and, being the youngest and now capable of walking and carrying things at the same time, the "pass out presents" torch was passed from Andy to Ryan. It was hard for him to handle all those presents without being able to open them, but I think he'll grow into the role.

At this Christmas, we go around the circle, starting with the youngest and open one present at a time, then repeat. It was hard for Ryan to wait his turn, but he had fun helping Adam and me open our presents as well. Here are a few of the things he opened:

Legos (yay!) and a container to store them all in (double yay!)

Farm animals--he got a "mommy and a baby" pig, dog, and sheep to add to his collection. 

Ryan loves playing farm and we really like the Schleich animals (we buy them at Bomgaars) because they are heavy and don't fall over easily.

 Thomas DVD set (handy for the 5-hour trip to MN he was going to make the next day)

The big hit right away was his Hot Wheels 4-Lane Elimination Race Playset. It was great that he also received a set of cars from Andy and Kim because only one car comes with the track. (Just a warning for anything thinking of buying this track--be sure you have more cars!) Ryan can line up four cars at the top gate, then pull the lever back and allow them to race down. At two points, whichever car reaches the gate first triggers the other gate to fly up, making the other car fly off the track. He loved seeing which color car one and he has learned how to reset all the gates.

 Ryan received some other great presents including a fleece and many cool books. We had fun opening our gifts as well and seeing everyone else open theirs. I love watching Andy open presents because even if you get him something EXACTLY off his list, like a certain brand/size/color/fit of a dress shirt, he'll still act surprised and delighted!

We were surprised and delighted that Ryan easily went down for a two-hour nap before it was time to say good-bye and move on to the next Christmas party!