Christmas Festivities

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  The kids are starting to get into opening presents a little, and Reese was really showing her excitement with her big OOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!
We started off on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Rhein's for the Phelps family gathering.  There was a good turnout this year.  Grant did some walking and lots of crawling to show off his speed.  Reese wowed the crowd with her excitement for everything!  Mommy and Daddy went to the 4:30 church service while Reese and Grant took a nap at Grandma and Grandpa's.   Later that night we celebrated with our small family at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Late that night, Santa showed up and brought lots of presents for Reese and Grant, even Shadow and Lacey must have been good too!  Santa did make a lot of noise putting together some gifts, but luckily Reese and Grant slept right through it all.

R&G slept in until about 7:30 on Christmas Day!  (next year, I am sure we won't be so lucky).  When they came to the living room and saw all the presents and the big present that santa put together, they were very excited!  After all the morning excitement, they laid down for a little nap.

When they woke from their nap, we all got a big surprise!  John and Danielle had come to town and were on our back porch.  They visited for a little while, but had to head to the next stop and we had to get to Nana and Papa's house.
We headed to Nana and Papa's house (only an hour late).  We had a great time with all of the Whitaker family.  All the cousins had a good time playing and opening presents while the adults played a game to get our ornaments.  Grant and mommy weren't feeling too good, so we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked. 
The day after Christmas, we headed down to Marissa to meet up with the Rhein's.  We discovered that part of Grant's crankiness from the day before could have been the BIG back tooth he was getting in.  Poor guy was good for a little while, then he was done and CRABBY.  Reese enjoyed handing out presents and taking things off the tree at Aunt Connie's house.  They both liked playing with Madeline while Wyatt caught some sleep.
We remember our 1st born even more this time of year.  Chaffin would have been 4 years old.  He would have really loved opening gifts and seeing all of his cousins. But I know he spent Christmas with Jesus and celebrated Jesus' birthday in Heaven.  I know he is up there in Heaven with all of the loved ones who have passed on.  We think of all of you and miss you all so much.  Sometimes as we rush around over the holidays, and it can be a bit overwhelming.  Its a crazy time for everyone, but we cherish the time we have with our loved ones here on earth.