Sheldon Christmas

Christmas afternoon and evening was spent with my parent's and family. As usual, there was a lot of food, fun and laughs! We let the kids open their presents first and then the adults played Dirty Santa! It is always nice getting to see my family from Michigan and Texas -- I just wish that this year we could have spent more time together. But we are thankful for the time we get with them! All good memories.

Eli loves his musical instruments set!

Family shots are getting harder to take...too many people to stay focused!

We're losing them....

Oh well...happy times anyway!

All of the adults tried something new this year too...

We all brought in a small item to fill every one's stocking...we ended up with everything from chap stick, candy, cookies, lotions to hand warmers, germ-x, etc. It was a pretty neat idea!

And here are the other gingerbread contestants...

Apparently we weren't the only ones with issues this year.

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This first house is Maggie's -- we called it the "Katrina" house since it collapsed before everyone got there!

This one is Ashleigh's "Tree House"

This was Melissa's house...she won!

Melissa's even came with a three car garage. Yeah, we decided she can't play next year! :)

This is mom's roof -- her house collapsed too!

And here is our Christmas village...

It was an adventurous Christmas, to say the least! But it was great fun!

Merry Christmas...and Pass the Tylenol Flu!!

Christmas this year went by way too fast -- but was a wonderful experience! Eli enjoyed the presents this year and after Zachary's salvation back in October, he was really understanding the true meaning of Christmas -- which was unique to watch too. I unfortunately was very sick over the Christmas holidays. I ended up getting tonsilitis and bronchitis around the 21st and then ended up getting a flu virus after Christmas that lasted until New Years. And trust me, being pregnant and running a fever for 12 days straight was not fun at all!! But with the help of some Tylenol, antibiotics and a lot of hot chocolate -- we made it through. Eli ended up getting sick around the 27th and Zachary got sick on the 29th but Nate was able to escape the wrath of the virus. Others in the mix for the sick was my grandmother, my uncle, Ashleigh, Sloan, my other grandmother and grandfather and my nephew. It was a crazy "Sheldon Plague" as Sloan called it! :)

However, other than the sickness going around, the boys had a great Christmas and are still enjoying all of their new toys!!

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Getting Ready on Christmas Eve

And Santa Came!!!!!

Opening the Stockings

Oh the wait while passing out the presents...

And they're off!!

Daddy helped little E with his...

Zachary was hilarious this year! I've never seen a child take so much time opening his presents. He opened them one at a time...looked each one over...and then placed it on the couch in order of size and type of present. It took him over an hour to open his presents!!

Daddy got new tools from Santa...very cool.

And Santa brought Zachary a Wii....which has ended up being a life saver with all of the snow days and hospital stays over these last few weeks. (More on that to come...)

Eli and I set up his new train tracks...he was pretty impressed.

After the morning's craziness was over -- we packed up and headed down to my parents' house for the Sheldon Christmas festivities. And of course, enjoyed looking out at our first white Christmas in a while!

And obviously, getting up at 0600 on Christmas morning and then riding in the car for the long journey to Cheatham County was very exhausting for both the boys!!

All good times! I love my little family!