Happy Boys!

Here is Thomas with his gift card making the excited face. He was so much fun unwrapping presents. He says his dad takes a lot of pictures on Christmas so he learned to pose and wait for the click!!

Sid does not plan on sharing his loot! He is set to watch all of his hunting shows now. All 4 years recorded shows on the big screen. All he needs is his popcorn, soda and peanut M&M's! Don't try to ask him to share because he won't do it!

After we opened up the gifts we hung around the house and then called Grandpa Kelly and found out he was all alone so we took our ham dinner up to his house and enjoyed the dinner with him and Abby. Thomas had never been to his house so it was a treat to show him the chickens and let him pick mandarins right from the tree. Thanks Grandpa for letting us come up and visit with you!

Christmas Morning

It was around 9:45 when we heard the kids up because they were supposed to get over to the Meyer house at 10:00am. Here they are in the hall waiting to see the presents.

Ava smiling at Grandpa! She loved to give him big smiles, it is just hard to catch them on film.

Ava seems excited to see the presents and start opening her loot!

Here is Grandpa with Ava in her cute Christmas outfit. She is getting so cute!

A Great Get Together

I know I don't have ANY pictures but I thought I would at least give you something to read about. Last Saturday (the 20th) we had a family get together with all the Kelly crew that was available and in town. From Calvin and Joanne we had, Ryan and Jenn and their 4 girls, Clinton and Marga and yes, Marga is expecting in May!! and Trevor and Ashley. We had Ron and Allison with their kids Blake and Bradley and they each brought a girlfriend!! Also Tiffany and Steven with their little girl Ava came. Grandpa Kelly came with his little dog Abby and then we have Kristin and Thomas here and Mike and Christy and Ava. We had lots of food to munch on and the fun began with the gift game. (requested by Trevor) Each one who wanted to play was to bring a gift of no more than $10 in value and then we opened and exchanged them back and forth until the last one (Marga) ended the game. We had 23 people play and it was fun to see the gift swapping action. You got to love the "Aunt Gladys" turkey salt and pepper than Grandpa brought and Clinton was the happy recipient. We then played a game that Kristin told us about and that was to open boxes within boxes with oven mitts on while Christmas music played and stopped. The last person to open the final box found a $100 dollar bill inside! Trevor won that game. It was sure fun to have everyone together and laugh and eat and just visit. All the little babies were fun to see and compare sizes. Sooooooo cute!! I still can't believe we didn't have one camera take one picture the whole time. I really blew it on that one. I hope everyone has a great Christmas in a couple of days. We will talk to you then!!

Christmas Part 2

The small feather tree on the dining room table has cute little things around it this year. White little things with antique ornaments on the tree. Very cute!

The three trees in the living room where Mike and Christy have been putting presents. They are just white lights with disco balls and glass ornaments that sparkle in the night. Very romantic (can christmas be romantic)?

The big white feather tree with my Bellsnickels around the base. Fits perfect by the entry way for everyone to see. Decorated with antique ornaments also.

The wonderful nativity set that my mother made for herself but I was fortunate to inherit when she passed it on to me. I have it in the living room on the table in front of the couch. Very simple and beautiful. I have an exact small set that I didn't put out this year since I put out the big one.

This was sent to me by my sister Jan one year. I just love it! I have the perfect skinny wall to hang it on so it comes out every year and gets hung on that perfect wall.

Christmas time at the Kelly's house

Every Christmas I go through the idea of not putting up many decorations around the house. Last year it was an easy decision because we went to Colorado for Christmas. This year we are home and Kristin & Thomas are coming from Minn. so I thought I better get the "stuff" out of the boxes and get it up. We got a killer deal on a tree this year at a place called Wise Buys. Any tree was $9.98. Actually anything in their store is not over $9.98. I was with Christy and she had her truck so we looked at the trees and picked this 12 foot beauty out and brought it home. We got some new LED lights in white and blue and decorated it in blue white and silver. It is really a beautiful tree. The picture does not really show how pretty it really is.

The Santas were lovingly unwrapped and put in their proper place and I still love looking at them and remembering who gave me which one or where I purchased them for myself. A lot of great memories for me.

The one and only time I am allowed to "dress up" the bear is Christmas and I look forward to putting on his hat and ribbon. We moved him out of his spot and put the tree where he usually resides. He kind of freaks me out not being in his corner!!

The famous advent calender!! Many a fight over who was going to take out the little toy on the calender in the mornings. No fighting this year. We sometimes forget to even take it out. It sure has lasted through the years, even with six kids wanting to get their hands on it.