Christmas Morning 2016

On Christmas Morning, the little boy was so excited, he woke up early, got into his Festive T-Shirt, and quietly tried to wake us up.

He was glad to see that the cookies and milk that had been set out had seen some action.

And then we dove right into the Stockings.

There was some pretty awesome stuff in there. :)

and Everything was Wrapped.

We had candy, chocolates, a Scrooge McDuck, a toothbrush, and some shampoo dealies..

I got some hand sanitizer and scented wax.

We ALL got some personalized tangerines!

Then it was time to go see what was Under The Tree.

Mr. Duckie joined in the festivities with much anticipation.

The Loot :)

Christmas 2016

The family gathered over at Stephanie's house after church, for Christmas Lunch. We were really glad to have Frances with us, even though she had had a really unfortunate incident happen with her car.

The kids ( read: Twins ) were running around playing with their Christmas gifts.

We were in charge of dessert, and so we brought the Christmas cookies we made, some Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies, a Cheesecake Pumpkin pie and the Eggnog cake we received from my aunt in Arizona.

While the adults were getting stuff ready, some of the little ones played Minecraft.

and then had an outdoor swimming party AFTERwards. 

BECAUSE

The Day Before Christmas

the air conditioner came on.

Christmas Lane 2016

I got a little weary of the "T'is the Season" headings....

We found a night that didn't have grocery shopping or football involved, and headed towards the State Supported Living Center for our yearly drive-through.

As usual, there was a long line of cars waiting their turns, but at least it didn't take THAT long till we reached the gates.

There's something comforting about traditions, and this was certainly one we had been doing with the little boy for a number of years now.

Behold, some nifty time traveling...

There were the usual painted wooden cut-outs and lighted animatronix deer,

colorful sets, 

some less conventional Santas,

our favoritePeanuts themed display,

and the many vehicles utilized in imaginative ways.

Don't forget the inflatables!

Toward the end of the drive, we parked to go through the indoor part of the displays..

But not before we took a few minutes to call the North Pole elves!

This year, the display at the entrance was very Dickensonian, with a very jolly Santa indeed.

The Train and Christmas Village display was magnificent as usual..

and this time, just about all the dolls along the walls were moving displays. I mean, you had moving kids, moving Santas, moving angels, moving anything you Christmassy you could think of.

I took a short video of the little boy emulating them, and here's a screen shot.

Afterwards, we lined up to see Santa,

and the little boy looks like he is almost crushing Santa, he's gotten so much bigger since last year.

Afterwards, we drove around some neighborhoods that had their Christmas displays going, and our favorite of the night was this really Big Fuzzy Bear.

Our last stop was the Window Display at the Ford Auto Center, before calling it a night...

Next up.. Christmas Day, finally???

The Night Before The Night Before

We made a Christmas Tree during school, and had stuck it up on one of the walls.

On the Night Before Christmas Eve, we decided to put up our stockings, and we had gotten a Cowboy Boot one for the hubs.  Some preliminary presents were exchanged,

And we waited patiently for a couple of more days...