Look what SANTA brought us!

After a lot of pleading to the big man in red, our biggest Christmas wish came true! We were blessed with FAMILY for the holidays!


Grandma and Grandpa Hanks showed up on Wednesday, the 22nd of December, and then the fun began!

Lily was SUPER happy to have her best buddy back. I hardly remember a time when she was not attached to her Grandpa's side.

Grandpa and Grandma both were responsible for teaching Lily how to stick out her tongue, clap her hands, climb up and down the stairs, stand up, and walk...with some assistance during their visit. Lily had Grandpa walking her back and forth for ever, and she would cry every time he tried to end their little game. Let's just say, she had him wrapped VERY tightly around her little finger!


Brooklyn wasn't exactly wanting for attention either. She WORSHIPS her grandma and followed her everywhere she went. She enjoyed art projects, dress up, morning snuggles, games, outings, and cookie making with grandma and loved every minute!


One of the fun things Brooklyn did with grandma Hanks took place after our FABULOUS Christmas Eve dinner with out friends, the Cottons. Grandma and Brooklyn decorated some of the cookies they had made earlier and laid them out for Santa. They also colored a picture for him so he would know how thankful we were for his visit.

Well, Santa DID come and boy did he deliver! The stockings were full, there were fun little toys and books in place of the cookies we had left out, and the presents were out and wrapped with care!

Because we had two extra people in our house for Santa to visit, we experienced the biggest pile of presents we had ever seen before! It was pretty crazy!

Lily actually loved the whole Christmas scene. She sat happily next to grandpa, opening presents, bouncing on the couch, and eating extra wrapping paper. She loved her new toothbrush that Santa brought for her one, giant, front tooth. She also loved her Lady Bug Pillow Pet from Grandma Uda and her adorable penguin hat that Aunt Janna made. (Which she has had SEVERAL complements on so far.) She also enjoyed many other fun presents from her aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, and some of our good friends.

Brooklyn, of course, thought she had died and gone to heaven! Santa brought her almost EVERYTHING she ever wanted, and mom and dad and her extended family took care of the rest. Her favorites included ALL dress-up items: cat and rabbit outfits, a tutu, and a mermaid outfit; as well as her new barbie mermaid, unicorn pillow pet, Tinkerbell bath kit from her cousin Teya and Ponyo DVD.

And to top things off, Grandma and Grandpa Hanks brought this princess castle/tent that the girls LOVE! They have been watching movies, playing tag and hide and seek, and taking naps in it ever since Christmas day!

Grandma and Grandpa even got brave enough to go inside and play for awhile!

Kevin and I also got spoiled, but for some reason, we forgot to take pictures. We did get a shot of Kevin putting on his bike helmet ear warmers that Janna made though. Kevin also got some Martial Arts lessons, a new family blog book, some tools, a remote controlled helicopter, and many fun books and games.

I scored big time with a Cuttlebug (a toy for card makers and scrapbookers), some GREAT books, girly lotions, and a shopping spree to KOHLS!

After all was said and done, we had a VERY big mess to clean up, but it was totally fun because we knew when there was space on our floor again, we would be able to play with our new toys! WOOHOO!

Anyway, we had an INCREDIBLE Christmas and were SO thankful that Grandma and Grandpa made it out to visit! We are also VERY grateful to all our family that remembered us with fun gifts, cards, and phone calls. We love and miss all of you and look forward to the time when we can come out and spend a great big Christmas with everyone! Until then, we wish you all an exciting and prosperous new year!