Christmas morning!!

Livvy and Paka ventured into the living room first.  I'm not sure if Livvy was grinning because of the tree and presents or because of the excitement she could sense in the air, but she was pretty cute.

She kept looking at the tree saying, "OOooh, ooooh."

But when Paka put her down she sensed the need to crawl to the safety of her daddy.

Which is good because Jace came tearing through, obviously fast as a blur.

The boys explored their stockings while we waited for everyone to gather in the living room.  Jace pulled out an angry bird disc shooter thing (courtesy of Grandma and Paka).

And then this happened.

And then the next day there was a lot of google searching in my parents house along the lines of:

"How to fix stuck tv pixels"

and

"Is it a dead pixel or a stuck pixel"

and

"Why do dead pixels keep spreading?"

and

"TV repair shops"

But that's another story.

Angry bird toothbrush.  Pretty cool.

My sweet nephew's eyes were pretty much wide open the entire visit.  He was always just watching his crazy cousins.  They kept him pretty entertained.  I'm sure he's just calculating the days until he can join them.

Yeah that poor TV didn't stand a chance. 

Jace made us a cute little snowman ornament at school.  And helped Livvy open her presents.

The boys got the skateboards they wanted.  Although before they opened the box with the real skateboards they opened a huge box with a tiny little toy skateboard.  Jace was not amused.  But Grandma was.

It reminded me of the time that Randall and I thought it would be hilarious to wrap up presents for Seve.  Things that were already his.  Like old books.  We were pretty amused.  Seve was like seven, so I don't think he was. 

And then I love this picture of my nephew.  Cutest expression ever.

It was a wonderful Christmas morning.  Wreck it Ralph thought so, too.

On Jace's last day of school before the break he came home VERY excited.  And also very anxious about not jostling his back pack too much.  In fact, when I took it from him he screamed, "CAREFUL! DON'T SHAKE IT!"

That is because inside his back pack he had some magic rain deer food.  With magic dust.  That apparently blows up if it shaken about too much.  At least that's what his teacher told him.  I imagine it must have been hilarious watching the kids carry their bags to their back packs.  It made me like his teacher even more.  

On Christmas Eve we sprinkled the "reindeer food" and "magic dust" in the grass for those hungry reindeer.  We forgot to check it in the morning, but I bet the reindeer gobbled it right up.

And we were very careful.  So we did not get blown up.  Whew.

My dad, my brothers, and my boys.  All mesmerized by something.  I can't remember what they were all watching. But it was a winner I guess.

We played an impromptu game of steal the flip-flop.

Someone really got into it. 

After our early Kentucky Christmas we headed to Texas.  Where we got to see Seve, who just got home from his mission, and Randall and Spencer and Summer and their sweet little baby.  And Grandma and Paka.  And the dogs.  Minus Skeeter who finally decided to head to doggie heaven.

Seve showed the boys the hammock he slept in for two years.  I wonder if sleeping in a hammock would help my back not hurt all the time. . .  No?  You mean I really have to exericse?  Blast.

Jace was concerned because he knocked off the scab on his forehead.  That he initially got from rubbing his head along the kitchen floor.  Then when I told him he just knocked the scab off he kept searching for the scab cause apparently he wanted to put it back on.  So I explained that he could not put it back on.

And then when I was looking at pictures I found the missing scab.  Gross.

And on the Monday before Christmas Grandma gave Liv her early Christmas present.  She got her ears pierced!!  Sweet little Liv did pretty good.  Thankfully they pierced both of them at the same time.  You can see purple from the marker that marked the spot smeared all over.  Don't worry, it's not from being swollen and infected.  So far they have stayed perfectly clean and clear so yay for that.

Although she has discovered them and likes to twist them.  Oh well.

So slowly but surely I'll work through my Texas pictures.  And also Jace starts school tomorrow already.  I have mixed feelings about that.  I've enjoyed this break of not having to rush about in the morning.

Some faces of our Kentucky Christmas.

These faces are pretty happy.  I think the kiddos loved their Kentucky Christmas.