Christmas Eve

Let's continue on with Christmas Eve...after a small afternoon break, we headed back over to Oma and Opa's for dinner, carols, a few gifts, and of course, a visit from Santa...

We snapped a few pics of Brad, Jayne, and the boys.  I still don't have one with Arie in it on my wall!

My mom and Sue prepared a fantastic spread that included all the favorites...mini hot dogs, ham/cheese/buns, Aunt Bev's chicken casserole, and chips with french onion dip. 

After dinner we headed down to the basement for some caroling around the piano.  Gwen's parents, Jim and Nancy were here for Christmas, so the entire Vogelzang crew joined us this year.

Brady and Rylan were very serious about their singing.

(don't mind my baritone voice in the background...:))

And of course, little miss Reagan wanted to be a part of the action as well!

Payton was actually quite sick for most of Christmas vacation, so when she asked if she could just wear her pj's to Christmas Eve, we said go for it.  She loves snuggling with her daddy.

Oma does a great job playing all the carols.  Especially considering she doesn't get a chance to practice too much!

Landon and Cohen want to be a part of the action.

And, as you probably know if you've attended Christmas Eve with our family, upon completion of page 17, Jingle Bells, it's time for a visit from Santa!

Everybody gets a turn...

Brady

Payton

Oma and Aunt Sue.

After Santa left, it was the adults turn for presents.  We all brought a 5-10$ gift and did an exchange.  The kids just had to peak at what we were up to.

And finally, back upstairs for some cookies and ice cream.

A silly shot from Aunt Gwen and Lando.

And a nice one...

We've been great friends with these guys for a long time.  So glad we get to do life together!

And, finally, we made the long trek home (you know, six houses up the street :)) to go to bed and get ready for Chistmas morning.  It actually snowed, so it was a beautiful ending to a great day.  And, there is nothing better to do in the snow on Christmas Eve than race Monster Trucks!

Jansen Christmas Part 2

As is tradition, we headed over to Oma and Opa's house on Christmas Eve morning.  

No Christmas is complete without a good game of slap hands!

The kids love checking out the Nutcracker.

Then it was time for stockings...Co-Co and Lando posed for some pics.  They really know how to smile! :)

Silly boys.

And silly girl and uncle...

That's more like it.

Lando's turn.

Never mind the money, he loved the matchbox cars!

Brady's was so full it was overflowing.  He loved it!

After waiting patiently, it was PR's turn.  I can't believe how old she is getting...

Arie got to check out his very first stocking.

And a few more stocking pics...

Then it was on to presents.  Let's just say Brady liked this Lego Ninjago set.

Payton drew Cohen's name, so she chose a fire truck and a motorcycle to give him.  Just what he wanted!

There's Jayne!  (I missed getting a pic of her during stockings...)  This is a great pic!

Buddies playing with the new motorcycle.

Payton had seen these beanie balls at the mall a few weeks back.  "Somehow", Oma and Opa heard about it and went hunting for a dolphin and a seal.  This girl LOVES her animals!

We had another wonderful morning relaxing, celebrating the season, and enjoying the blessing of family.  We went home for a quick afternoon nap, and then came right back to Oma and Opa's for Christmas Eve.  That post is next!

Jansen Christmas Part 1.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but apparently, I took a small sabitacal from blogging.  Well, I guess life happened.  And, a small break to decide whether to make a giant Christmas movie or several smaller Christmas posts turned into a month and a half blogging break.  Oops.

I do love this blog.  The kids love going back to see old videos, pictures, and all the memories we have made and are making as a family.  So, I don't want packing lunches, helping with homework, carpooling, laundry, and you name it get in the way of documenting the stuff in our life that actually matters.

So, here goes.  Please travel back in time to mid-December when we celebrated Round 1 of Christmas.  Mark, Abby, and the boys were heading to Chicago on actual Christmas, so we did all of our gifts with them a few weeks early.

Love these little dudes.

Searching for the pickle...

Time for presents!

Brady got Heath's name and he picked out a Bulls Eye Toy Story Horse and a punching bag.  He was so excited to give it to Heath (and help him rip it open :))

M, A, and the boys got Landon a Broncos t-shirt.  The second he opened it, he walked straight over to me and said "on, on."  He loves his football!

And, looking like his brother and his Opa!

Wes and Mark each chose each other.  Wes decided he wanted to add to Mark's booze collection.

And Mark made this amazing bags game for Wes!  Wes was so touched (in his own manly way) that Mark did all of this for him.  He has them hanging proudly in the garage waiting for the weather to warm up and break them in!

Oma and Opa opening their gifts...

Let's just say Payton and Brady partied a little too hard...

It was a great start to all of our many Christmas celebrations,and this is a great start to my blogging catch up!