MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's been a busy, but very happy holiday season here at The Keyes'!

We started our Christmas Celebrations on Christmas Eve at our house. We had Mike, Stacy, Megan, Alex, Dad and Bonnie over for dinner, presents and fun.

On Christmas we spent the morning opening (and then playing with) our presents from Santa Claus. After a little bit of breakfast on my new "George Forman Next Grilleration" grill we packed up and headed out to do some more celebrating with Jeff's dad and step-mom over in Moses Lake.

We arrived back home this afternoon with more toys and very exhausted kids!!

As you can see below, we had busy days filled with lots of love and joy!

(and lots of pictures.....)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVENING!

We headed over to Moses Lake for Christmas Celebration #3 with Grandpa and Grandma Keyes on Christmas night. Of course there were more present for everyone.........

Cameron is on Lego over-load with all of his new Lego sets. He got this 600 piece set from Grandma and Grandpa Keyes and also got 4 more littler sets from Santa. Luckily he likes them (and Jeff & I don't mind helping)!

Rena got the "My Little Pony Palace" and Maleah got the family SUV that goes with her new dollhouse from Grandma and Grandpa. They spent the couple of days that we were there playing with all of their new toys and had a great time.

Maleah actually would have been fine without any toys......as long as someone was paying constant attention to her -- and taking her picture! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Cameron was the first one up on Christmas morning. He wandered into our room at about 6:15am. We were able to keep him happy until the girls finally woke up about 15 minutes later. We were all excited that Santa ate most of his treats and that the reindeer had eaten most of their carrots.

Time to open some of those gifts from Santa!! Rena got ANOTHER Care Bear!

Oh, time for a snack......let's eat what Santa left behind. Yummy Oreo's for breakfast!

Here's Maleah's new dollhouse........

It's a little bit bigger than I realized, but atleast there is plenty of room for everyone to play without fighting.....or so you would think!! :)

Rena got a new bike from Santa. And it even has a basket for her Care Bear! Although she really wants a kitty (a real kitty) to put in her basket....for now she'll have to settle for the Care Bear!

It only took her a couple of trips down the driveway before she looked like a pro. Our walks around the neighborhood are going to change drastically now that she and Cameron can both get away from me! YIKES!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

We started our evening with a fantastic dinner of prime rib, baked potatoes, salad and bread.....

The kids table.....

We told the kids NO presents until after they stood nicely in-front of the tree for a picture. Funny how bribes work so well!

After a few pictures it was time for presents. We all got a lot of nice things and had a fun time opening our presents all together. Here are just a few of the gifts that we recieved.......

Cameron got a nerf shooter from The McCullough's.....

I got this beautiful new purple purse from Rena.....

Jeff got this new ladder from The McCullough's.....

After we opened presents it was time to have some fun with the presents. It started with a game of Hungy Hippo.....

And then of course it was time to eat some more....

And finally we had to get ready for Santa. Oreo cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the Reindeer!

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

Yesterday Grandpa Steve and Bonnie took the kids for their annual shopping trip at the Dollar Store. Megan and Alex have been doing it for a few years, but for Cameron, Rena and Maleah it was only their 2nd year. Before they go they all make their shopping list of the people they need to buy for. It's a long list and includes both sides of the family. When they get to the store they break-up and SHOP! They get to pick out one thing for everyone on their list. This year Bonnie helped Rena, Megan helped Maleah and Alex and Cameron shopped together with Grandpa. After the shopping they each choose their own wrapping paper and the fun continues.......

Alex and Cameron did a pretty good job wrapping on their own.

The girls needed a little more help, but luckily with Bonnie, Megan and I we got it done......all in just a few short hours!

Rena wanted to fill out all of her own tags. She'd wrap a present and then ask us how to spell the persons name........and then about 5 minutes later she'd finally give in and let us write the persons name.........but she did sign all of the tags with her own name by herself!

FRIENDS.......(AND COOKIES)

We had a visit from our friends Laurel, Marcus and Adam yesterday. They came down from Canada and spent the day with us. We originally met Laurel and her boys at a PEPS group here in Bellevue when our oldest kids were just babies. They unfortunately moved back to Langley, BC about a year and a half ago, but we have fortunately stayed in-touch and have been able to get together either here or there every couple of months. It was a long day for Laurel making the trip here and back on the same day, but we are glad that they did it and look forward to our next get-together.

I have created 3 cookie monsters around here with all of our Holiday cookies that we make, decorate and eat. Cameron now thinks that we HAVE TO make cookies for any and every occasion. Luckily I have a lot of different cookie cutters....I have bought some and also inherited a lot from my mom and my grandma (funny thing to inherit, but I'm glad that I have them!). So, while Marcus and Adam were here yesterday we all decorated and ate Christmas cookies.

Rena loves to decorate her cookies, but doesn't really like to eat them. She spends the most time decorating and makes them very pretty, but then saves them for later..........which later usually never comes!

Maleah likes to decorate AND eat her cookies!

A VISIT FROM AUNT PEGGY

This past weekend Peggy made a quick trip to visit. She arrived late Thursday night and left Monday afternoon. Even though it wasn't a long visit we were glad that she was here and we had a great weekend with her.

A VISIT TO SANTA

The kids went to see Santa yesterday with Megan and Alex. Cameron was excited, Rena wanted nothing to do with him and I don't think Maleah would have gotten close to him if it wasn't for Megan holding her.

Here's Santa reading Rena's letter that she wrote and took to him:

Rena wanted Santa to read her letter so that he would know that she had been a good girl and so that he would know what she wants for Christmas, but she really didn't want to come close to him. She didn't want to talk to him and she definitely did not want to sit on his lap.

Alex, Cameron and Megan waiting their turn to talk to Santa!

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

DECORATING OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

Rena helped daddy check and untangle the lights before they were put on the tree.

Cameron was in-charge of all of the high spots since he's the oldest and can stand on the chair (according to Cameron).

Rena was in-charge of the bottom branches. As you can see she took her job very seriously and made sure there were plenty of ornaments covering those bottom branches!

Maleah was in-charge of absolutely nothing! She had a fun time looking at all of the ornaments, but really didn't care if they made it onto the tree or not.

FINDING OUR CHRISTMAS TREE

We went over to a local tree farm on Thursday night to cut down our Christmas tree. We had quite a time finding the "perfect" tree. Rena thought that they were all perfect, but here are a few of her top picks:

Too small
Too BIG
JUST RIGHT!
Everyone got a chance to help daddy cut the tree down.
And everyone got to ride on the tractor to go get the tree and bring it to the car!

FAMILY ACTIVITY NIGHT AT PRESCHOOL

Last night was the annual Christmas get-together at Our Saviour Lutheran Preschool. Instead of doing a Christmas "show" they do a Family Activity Night.

Here are the kids ready and excited to go.....

Rena working on her first activity -- an angel.....

Maleah's finished Christmas tree.....

And, of course, along with the activities there is always food.....

Then it's on to the singing.....

The kids were getting ready to sing jingle bells and most of the kids (99% of them) were already jingling away with their bells, so I asked Rena why she wasn't jingling and she told me that she was "hugging her bells". Apparently she was the only one actually listening to the teacher.....and I was encouraging her to jingle!

And for all of you wondering.......yes, Rena fixed her own hair and picked out her own outfit. She wore the headband all night long and was very proud of it! Every compliment that she got was followed by a very polite and happy "thank you!".

OUR GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Jeff, Cameron and Rena put together this great gingerbread house over the weekend. They had a lot of fun building it together and I know we'll all enjoy it as a Holiday Decoration during the next month!


Uh-oh Rena, I think Daddy caught you eating the decorations!