Merry Christmas, Wisconsin!

Merry Christmas our faithful followers! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend celebrating the birth of our SAVIOR and had some time to just enjoy the company of loved ones. For us this year was all about trying to explain who baby JESUS was and making sure Levi was as thankful as humanly possible. We also were hoping he would be equally excited for each gift in order to not make anyone feel bad... and oh yeah, TIGUE'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Here's Levi just tryin' to be cool with his Uncle Drew (aka Unk Dew). Christmas Eve was spent with Jenny's family - Papa, Nani, Unk Dew, and Jah-nee (Uncle Johnny). We had a great day that included going to the Elmbrook Christmas service and hanging out at Jenny's parents all day (I got some much needed Christmas shopping done too...).

It was funny seeing Levi have just as much fun with the boxes as the gifts. I felt he did a great job balancing between the two (yes, I will get to Tigue too).

Oh there he is! Little MunchyMoo had his own way of being excited about gifts... making sure they felt good on his gums!

Christmas day as spent with my immediate family - G-Woo, Bonka, Sinny (Aunt Sammi), KyKy (Aunt Kylie), DoDo (Aunt Mykalanne) and Di-in (Sammi's boyfriend Dylan). We got there early in the morning, exchanged gifts, had an amazing breakfast, played games, took an amazing afternoon nap, and watched the Packer game... a great day!

That would be Kleenex holding up that stocking hat... thanks girls.

Here's Levi making sure the wrapping gets its share of his time.

"Tigue, I'm not really in a sharing mood this morning..."

Christmas PART III - Today was spent at my mom's parents - Goggy and Bompa. Levi was very excited to show Bompa his new bath toys!

As usual, the boys made a gift killing as the only grandkids on either side. I appreciated that our families stuck to our wishes of not overwhelming us with more toys, which lead to quality gifts like this adorable hat and mittens!

And in unrelated news Levi is really starting to come around to the potty training things! The big boy undies are a big hit and will hopefully replace chocolate as the main motivator. This evening it seemed to do the trick...

And so ends the 72-hour marathon that was Christmas 2011. Now I realize that was not a lot of pictures. Think of this as an appetizer to the main course which will be coming out later this week. I have to get all the pictures from my mom's camera. Shockingly Jenny and I spent more time caring for the boys and my sisters and mom did more of the picture taking... until then... "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"


"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a CHILD. While they were there, the time came for the BABY to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a SON. She wrapped HIM in cloths and placed HIM in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the LORD appeared to them, and the glory of the LORD shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a SAVIOR has been born to you; HE is the MESSIAH, the LORD. This will be a sign to you: You will find a BABY wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising GOD and saying,

“Glory to GOD in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom HIS favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the LORD has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the BABY, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen HIM, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this CHILD, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising GOD for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." ~ Luke 1:1-20