Patrick's:: Christmas Day 2011

John woke up bright and early, and Stephen was up a bunch during the night. Ryan and I were afraid for how we would all get through the day …

We held John hostage in his room as long as we could. Eventually, we had him wake-up Stephen and they walked holding hands into the living room to see if Santa came.

Santa left a note and he ate ½ of the cookies they set out for him. Obviously, the boys ate the rest of the dried out cookies ;) while I read the note Santa left them; explaining how he has been watching them, giving them things to work on, and encouraging them each on accomplishments they have done this year. He also explained that the gifts with green wrapping paper are Stephen’s from mom and dad, blue wrapping paper are John’s from mom and dad, and the red polka dot paper are the one’s Santa brought for them.

This is when a bit of the fun wore off for John. I think the excitement was too much?? He was excited as he opened each gift, but then 2 seconds later, he looked at it, said “me no like this” and threw it. :/ Stephen on the other hand was in his element! He was exclaiming wow! each time he ripped a little paper off his gift, and wanted to play with each gift after he opened it.

1/2 eaten cookies and Stockings!

Christmas 2011

John kindly leading (still sleeping) Stephen to the gifts.
It was super sweet!! <3

Stephen loves dogs, specifically Biscuit.

SJ surveying the site- a dog in each hand, content for now. :)

Ryan reading John his new Mickey book.

Stockings?? What that??

WOW!! COOL!! (HAHAHA)

Stephen carefully pulling each gift out. :)

Curious George book!

Yep, TOO TOO TOO much!

Stephen holding a beading toy... the bow? Classic!

John helping open his toy. :)

Uno Moo!!

John was thrilled he got a gift with COWS involved! ;D

Ready?? GO!

After all that, Stephen just wanted his "puppies" (AKA, Animals)

He even lined them up. (notice the elephant)

The boys got a bunch of gifts:

John:
Under Armor shirt, Remote Control car, Play-Doh, water toys, finger puppets, Mickey dishes, Uno Moo, plastic animals, books, light up glow toy, Play-Doh fun factory, Jacobs’s ladder, bug catcher, no-mess paint set, flashlight and more.

Stephen:
Under Armor shirt, remote control car, Play-Doh, water toys, finger puppets, Mickey dishes, plastic animals, books, light up toy, no-mess markers, flashlight, a race car set, wooden beading set, and more.

Clearly, they were both very blessed! And, Ryan and I are even more blessed to have them in our lives. We love you boys, Merry Christmas.
We had lunch and put the boys down for naps at 12. I was hoping they would sleep until everyone got to our house at 4. Ryan and I cleaned the house, got the food ready and showered. 4PM came and went, and both boys were still sleeping! We knew they were exhausted! SJ woke up a few minutes before people started arriving.

We had the Beach’s (Conan, Chrissy, Christian, Isabelle, Katie, and Abby), Jackie, William and Lisa Lawler over. It was a full house of fun!! J We had a dinner of ham, salad, potato casserole, corn and buns. Everything turned out prefect- yummy! Dessert was pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie. Delish! We all sat around and chatted, the kids played with their new toys and ended the night by singing Christmas songs on the couch and a blessing before bed. Simple, great company, memories made- done!