"Hey, There's a big orange thing in the living room. You should come with me to see what it is."
This was heard at 6:30 AM Christmas morning.
The bummer about our bedroom being downstairs while the boys' are upstairs is that they can see the Christmas surprise before we see their expression. Since we had missed it, we sent out curious little cat on a hunt. First, we told him to go check it out and report back. He did this twice. Then, he asked us how much it snowed. So... we told him to check it out and report back. After about 30 minutes, we finally decided to get up. As Keith was making coffee, Oliver was exploring the stockings, which he had earlier reported we each had something hanging except for Daddy.
He immediately noticed that he had a bow-and-arrow. Come to find out, Santa thought this was a better idea than a sling shot and since Santa knows best...
Oliver quickly connected that the tall orange thing must be for target practice.
Well, it has a target on it but suspicion tells us that it was meant as a punching bag. Never mind that, Oliver was going to use it for target practice.
Daddy showed him how to line it up and pull it back.
Oliver aimed carefully.
Then let it go!
With all of the excitement, Kellan woke up. Thanks to the fresh snow, the reindeer left tracks in the snow. Oliver thought they were bunny tracks at first but since there are so many reindeer, surely they were reindeer tracks that appear to be bunny tracks since the footprints are so close together. Surely, Mommy knows about this kind of stuff.
Kellan was in LOVE with the Mickey-the-Mouse that Santa left for him. That Santa sure knows his stuff.
The boys LOVED their coordinating hats that Santa had hand made by Jenny Bongiflio. (or here)
Notice, Oliver's is Broncos Orange and Blue. This boy LOVES the Broncos and Peyton Manning!
Kellan was discovering what was in his stocking.
"By Self" as he put on his new hat.
This boy LOVES hats!! LOVES LOVES LOVES them. Plus, his favorite color is Yellow, followed by Blue. Santa is one smart cookie.
Do they really get much cuter on Christmas morning?
(Oliver's hat does come down further in the back, he just had it curled up.)
Even Daddy got a new hat with his Alma Mater CSU on it.
It didn't take long for Kellan to claim both he and his brothers M&M candy canes.
Sometimes, I just post pictures because I love them.
BOOM!
I guess it is a punching bag.
Now that Oliver is learning to read, he was anxious to hand out the gifts.
Kellan was just anxious to introduce Monkey to Mickey-the-Mouse and have a friend for each arm.
Handing out gifts is hard work. Whew!
Time to dive in.
Explaining the Ins and Outs of the Bey Blade Battle Arena.
This kid has the gift pose mastered!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the camera, you can see Mommy snap snap snapping away.
Sweet Kellan opening his new John Deere tractor.
Kellan's gift to us was he graduated from calling us "Mama" and "Dada" to "Mommy" and "Daddy" just before Christmas. I'll admit, I'll miss the Mama and Dada, but it's another sign that he's growing up. The other crazy thing is often times, I can't tell who's calling for me, Oliver or Kellan. It used to be so obvious with the different titles.
As the sun was rising it was hidden behind the clouds but brightening the day to show us our White Christmas.
Who doesn't love a Hex Slug Bug for Christmas.
If you use your imagination, this is Oliver saying
"oh ya, oh ya, Peyton Manning shirt, oh ya, oh ya..."
Like already stated, he LOVES Peyton Manning and the Broncos!
Kellan got an awesome remote control Thomas Train for Christmas. It even has real steam that comes out of the stack and it goes across the carpet as well as the tile floors. The boys were caught consulting on the trains next move.
Kellan driving the train around town.
Nice fleece, Dude!
Ahhh.... who doesn't love a cozy Thomas blanket on Christmas morning?
There is nothing like the look of surprise and excitement on Christmas.
Kellan is following in Oliver's footsteps with a love of puzzles.
WAHOO!!!! Daddy got packing material!!!
and a new frying pan from the boys.
What's for breakfast, Dad?
Let's see if he complains about the frying pans now?
Wahoo... a new drill!!
Kellan... he was still puzzling around.
Oliver got a new bug too. Someone should have warned Mommy that having boys means a house full of football gear and bugs. You should see how many times the plastic cockroach has mad my heart stop.
Kellan is also following in Oliver's footsteps with his love of books.
Mr Hamilton found himself with some new threads, thanks to our friend Thomas who just launched his own company, Construction Zone.
He also found himself with a new weather station, complete with an anemometer to measure the wind. Yes, he was on the roof Christmas day, in the snow, mounting it.
Cat in the Hat finger puppets.
WAHOO!!!!
Oliver asked Santa for a Kite. Not only did he deliver a kite, but a Blue Angel kite. Oliver was in heaven.
What about Mommy?
Well, Mommy was busy taking photos with her old camera. Yes, "OLD".
Eight years ago, we bought our digital SLR just before our trip to Italy. It was great at the time but it has been frustrating for Mommy the last few years because technology had improved so much and she wasn't happy with the photo quality she was getting, especially on indoor shots. Images were MUCH too dark. Well.. the boys took care of that and gave Mommy a new SLR camera body for Christmas. She was one HAPPY MAMA!
With all of this excitement, breakfast was turning into Brunch. As we waited for the quiche to cook in the oven, we had a little snack plate to tide us over. Who doesn't love cheese, crackers and salami at all times of the day? We are a snack plate kind of family. Kellan was the first to belly up and announce to the world that Christmas was finally complete now that the snack plate had arrived.
"Salami, Mommy?"
Mommy also got a new scarf from the Wyoming Hamiltons. Ooo La La!!
After charging the new camera, this was the first shot. Bright and Shiny!!!
The second model, Oliver.
Look how bright these images are. The top one, shooting into the sunny window. Neither one of them were enhanced in my photo editing software, like I usually have to do to lighten them.
Mommy busting out the Mac to clear out a memory card for the new camera.
Whew! All of the Christmas morning excitement had come and gone but one task still remained.
Blowing Snow!
We bought this snow blower from a colleague who was moving and no longer needed it. Keith has been on pins and needles to use it ever since we bought it at Thanksgiving. Finally, the day had arrived. It was like a bonus Christmas gift.
Never mind your son standing in the yard. I'm sure he'll be OK after having snow piled on his head.
Feel free to tease Keith for blowing 2" of snow. I did.
The hunter was out with his weapon of mass destruction in search of the bunnies. Lucky for the bunnies, they didn't cross paths.
OooEee... Brunch was finally ready.
Cheers to the Best Christmas Yet!
Or as Oliver said "Mommy, this is the Best Christmas EVER!"
As we found our way to rest and relaxation, Kellan made himself right at home with the camera manual.
While Keith and Oliver had a Bey Blade Battle.
Oliver protected us from any invasions.
Kellan caught up on some new reading.
Now that the sun was up and the clouds had cleared, we got a picture of the reindeer tracks. Evidence that they were there and ate their reindeer food.
After naps, we headed West to Conifer and our friends the Wells'.
When we arrived, we had just missed sledding in the back yard, but Jeff was kind enough to stay out so that Oliver could take a few runs before it got dark.
He LOVED it!!
While it was 9 degrees outside, the house was all a-glow and inviting us back inside.
When you're four, it takes more than a glowing and warm house to pull you away from this kind of fun.
Even Kellan and Daddy were enjoying the crisp winter air.
We concluded with a few runs with all of the Hamilton boys.
What a wonderful Christmas under a full moon.
We went inside for a great dinner and after a few hours of visiting with friends, we put the boys in their PJ's for the ride home. Before we left, Oliver and Jin enjoyed a snack on the stairs.
We had an amazing Christmas. It was four days filled with fun and adventure. We were absolutely exhausted when it was all said and done but we wouldn't have had it any other way. We were surrounded with friends we love and the four of us were together. We had a lot to give thanks for during the year and we have a lot to look forward to in 2013. We wish you all the best for Christmas and hope that your holidays were filled with joy, love and laughter.
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