Christmas 2009 Recap

You know it's been a great Christmas when you're too busy unwrapping presents, playing in the snow and having family meals to update the blog.  It was tough to get into the spirit this year without our usual decorations around the house since they're all in storage.  But we had a great holiday nonetheless.  Here are a few highlights....

Christmas Eve at our house...We only had to show Corbin once what to do and he was off and running with tearing the wrapping paper.  He was more interested in the toys inside than continuing to unwrap the presents.  We'll see what next year brings....

Christmas morning, Corbin awoke to find a big, ride-on dump truck complete with blocks and hydraulic lift sound effects.  Once we told him that Santa brought it, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Anta?" in the cutest little voice.  He hasn't figured out how to ride it forward yet and gets frustrated when he is backed up against the wall, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he figures it out.

On to Grandma's where the pink ferry wand that Felicity got was Corbin's favorite toy.

The next day, it was time for another Christmas, this time with Grandma and Grandpa in Montana.   We wore him out in the airport pretty good by using the infamous "Monkey Leash" (a back pack looking monkey with a long tail for Mom/Dad to hang to while he runs around).  We got our fair share of dirty stares from those I assume have never travelled with children, as well as an equal amount of smiles and bright ideas from another group of people who I assume have travelled or will travel with a child and know how lovely it is to get all the wiggles out in the airport so once on the plane, they snuggle down and take a snooze.  I must say the plan worked great, and Corbin slept to and from Montana on the place.  This meant encouraging a nap 2 hours earlier than normal (thank you Monkey Leash) on the way there, and keeping him entertained enough to not melt on the way home as we pushed his nap 3 hours late.

Corbin loved the new Elmo remote control and cell phone he got, and Mike & I are sure glad to have a new set of books to read to Corbin.  So far the favorite is "Pajama Time".  We had a great time reading books, playing with new toys and playing in the snow in Montana.

Corbin's first sled-ride down the driveway with Daddy.

Grandpa taught Corbin how to throw snow.  Next year: making snowballs will be the lesson.

Corbin and Daddy heading to the driveway once more...

Pat bought a new tractor in order to plow the driveway.  Mike took it for a test drive and loved it.  Good thing we don't get that much snow, otherwise I'm sure he'd want one too.

The trip home included a 4 hour delay at Missoula airport.  The good thing about it being such a small airport is there's not too many people around so Corbin was able to run all over.

Yesterday, we had our final Christmas gathering at Peg & Wes's.  Peg got me a book of all of my blog posts since it was created.  It was the hit of the day and something I've talked about doing for about a year.  It's something I'll treasure.  I didn't get any pictures of the three kids all together, so here's my favorite one of Corbin from the day.