Christmas 2009

Wow! what an amazingly fun and spoiled Christmas we had!

Tuesday after work, I spent the night packing for the rest of the week before we headed up north Wednesday morning. Wednesday night, Mike and I made his wonderful homemade pizza recipe for my family. My whole family loves those pizzas!

Thursday morning was the start of a big snowstorm and unfortunately, my dad had to go to work to call people in for snow removal. My sister came up in the morning and then shortly after we saw her quickly, we headed to the in-laws. Bella loves her cousins, Ellie and Jake, so she was very excited. I love having family together all at once during the holidays :) The kids started getting pink eye in the morning, but with a prescription called to the pharmacy just in time, they were perfect in church on Christmas eve. Bella is quite fascinated with baby Jesus and just loved the children's play that they put on. After church, we headed back to eat Christmas eve homemade raviolis. My church service was at 8:30pm so we quickly drove back to my mom and dad's and the kids opened their Christmas jammies. Connor was too tired to make it to church for the second time, so he stayed home with daddy. When we got home really late, we got Santa's cookies ready and took a few pictures. Bella and grammy's tradition is to sleep by the tree on Christmas eve and wait for Santa. The tired little girl was sound asleep by 11pm and so Santa went to work ;)

cousins ready for church

We woke up early to go back to grandma Fran's and have Christmas there with everyone in the morning. The kids saw their chairs that Santa had left and got so excited :)

We don't take turns opening presents one by one at the Pickett's, and I have to admit that it kind of bothers me, although I understand that with seven grandchildren and a house full of people, it would take quite some time. I am glad that we open them one by one with my family because I like seeing what everyone got and everyone will receive the proper hugs and thank you's. Bella got her stash of presents and started tearing them open! She was so happy and she got some great gifts! She got some great movies, a Wii type thing for kids and some games with it, some cute outfits, a Dora and Dora horse, a baby doll, some cute pj's, and more. Connor wasn't too interested in his presents since he wasn't feeling too great, but he got a really neat truck that moves and makes sounds, a bunch of outfits, pj's, tool bench, puppy that barks, some books, a swimming Nemo, and a bunch of other toys. I got a blu-ray player, the cutest pj's, bath and body works stuff, and comfy slippers. Mike got a spear for spearing fish, from his brother, new hunting boots, fly-fishing shirt, movies, and more. We had a great time and then had lunch. Poor Connor couldn't even stay awake, so he face planted right in his plate.

After lunch, we went back to my parent's for our Christmas and another dinner. Connor was cheerful by then and had a ton of fun playing with his new chair. Like I said, we open them one by one and each year someone plays "Santa" and passes out the presents randomly. My parents and family just spoil the kids rotten and love it :) Bella, once again, tore right into her presents and then posed for the camera each time.

Spoiled much?! ;)

Once again, the kids got great stuff! Santa brought the chairs embroidered with each of their names, Bella got a mixer, Dora movies and books, crayola glow board, camera, tag reader stuff, magnetic alphabet board, swimsuit, princess blow-up bed, playdoh maker, a make-up vanity from auntie, and tons more. Connor got a crayola music board, tool bench, books, a interactive puppy, racetrack, mr. potato head, swimsuit, Micky trainset, and more. One of my favorite moments was when my mom opened the gift from my brother, sister, and I. We had gotten professional pictures done of the three of us, considering the last time they were done, we were about 8 years old. We knew she would cry, but her face was priceless. We are so blessed to have the most wonderful and loving parents. I was thrilled to see that Santa got me a new Nikon lens and remote for my camera as well as other neat stuff! My nice husband got me a beautiful diamond necklace. He was pretty spoiled too and we had a wonderful time and have wonderful Christmas memories :) Unfortunately, after supper, my dad had to go to work because of the nasty weather, but he came back after a few hours.

Saturday morning, we checked the weather and then made sure it was safe to drive three hours for Christmas in Wisconsin Rapids with my dad's side. I would have been so sad if we wouldn't have been able to make it because we only see most of them at Christmas each year. We have our get-together at a hotel and the kids can swim if they would like. I didn't take too many pictures, but we had a nice time visiting and doing the gift exchange. Sunday morning, Bella and daddy swam for a bit and then we went back home and unpacked and relaxed. Christmas 2009 was wonderful and happy for our family :)