Merriest of Christmas, 2014

Christmas morning, the boys were up at 7 AM, announcing that Santa had arrived.

They patiently waited while we got the coffee brewing.

They even sat for a photo.

(They know that the quicker they smile for a photo, the quicker they can go about their business.)

Then... the flood gates opened as we said, "go ahead."

Ever year, we enjoy Christmas with our boys more and more.  This years added bonus was that Kellan can read many of the tags.  Some times he still confuses Keith for Kellan when he's in a hurry, but he definitely knows that he is "K.E.L.L.A.N."

Once the gifts were sorted, they dove into their stockings.

When we were kids, Shane and I would sneak into our stockings before anyone was up.  Our boys haven't figured that out yet.  Often times, they forget that they are there.

Kellan has been very in to the Lorax book lately.  Santa must have known.

Oliver liked the challenge of this new game.

My FAVORITE part of Christmas, is the element of excitement and surprise, even over matchbox cars.

or New Fuzzy Socks!

SO COZY!

Hooray!!  Mommy got new goggles.  She can finally retire her current goggles from 1998.  They've been good, but it's time to move on.

Another face of surprise... new Lego Chima's!

Oliver had asked for the Lego Chima Lion Temple.  He was SO excited about it after finding it in his Lego book.  On Christmas Eve morning, he received a letter that our elf, Silly Sam delivered from Santa.  It said that Santa worked with the Lego factory and they are no longer making the Lion Temple.  Since they no longer make it, his elves can't make it either.  Instead, Santa worked with the Lego Masters to determine something very special for Oliver.

Santa delivered on his promise and Oliver was SO happy!

Kellan took gift opening very serious.  He even evaluated the tags, upside down.

Broncos gear makes every Ham Fam member happy.

A few years ago, Uncle Jerry sent Oliver Oregon Ducks swag since there was a big "O" on it.  "O" for Oliver.  He has since grown out of his t-shit, so Uncle Jerry came through with a new "O" shirt for him.  He LOVES it!

Uncle Jerry had a new t-shirt made for Kellan with all of his stats.

He thought that this was quite exciting.

There is a big "4" on the back since he's 4 years old.

The happiness just keeps on coming.  Santa delivered a very special something for Kellan too, a motorized Thomas the Train track.

Kellan often comes with detailed commentary.  Opening gifts is no exception and came with numerous instructions.

Santa was good to Mommy as well.  Finally, she can retire her goggles AND her ski jacket that is a decade old.  This lady is getting into the present day.

Once all of the morning excitement was done, we all enjoyed an afternoon with no agenda except for as much or as little as we liked.

At some point, Kellan must have rolled onto a gift bow.  Either that, or he was the next gift.

The afternoon was even complimented with some refreshing holiday beverages for the whole family.

Kellan and Keith found themselves in the play room setting up Kellan's new train tracks.  They far exceeded our expectations.

While Kellan was busy with trains, Oliver was busy with Legos at the dining room table.  

The afternoon was also filled with testing out some new games, including Battleship.

With the snow falling down, we finally put on real clothes and headed up to dinner in Evergreen around 4 PM.  Very easily, we could have stayed in our PJ's all day.  Instead, we were enticed to go our for an amazing Christmas Dinner with our dear friends, the Wells.

After dinner, the kids relaxed with a Christmas special accompanied by Christmas cookies.  Yum!

Kellan, Oliver and Jin.

Marion treated the kids to some gingerbread men, which were huge hits.

Oliver takes his art work very seriously.

Kellan is quite the artist, himself.

All three of the kids loved decorating the gingerbread.

Some of the kids liked tasting the frosting.

Oliver is so excited about his creation.

Jin is decorating hers with care as well.

Oliver's final masterpiece.

Jin's final masterpiece.

Before we departed for the evening, Oliver had to sample a gingerbread toe.

Mmmm  Good!

Christmas 2014 is now in the books.  It was such a magical moment and we loved every second of it.  To the Pomponio's and the Wells' families, THANK YOU for opening your hearts and arms to welcome us into your families and homes for the holidays.  Friends like you make our life so grand.  We love each and every one of you!

Merry Christmas!

Ham Fam Christmas Eve

After a great day of skiing, we had more festivities before us to celebrate Christmas Eve.

We were headed to the annual Pomponio Italian family Christmas Eve but before we headed out, we took advantage of being in our Christmas best for a family photo.

Take 1: Kellan was munching on fruit snacks which resulted in a frowny face.

Reset.

Take 2: Dawson Photo Bomb!!!

We had an awesome opportunity to Dawson sit for an hour on Christmas Eve and it was such a big treat for us.  We love Dawson!  We had teased that we were going to keep her and take her as a Christmas gift, but we weren't serious.

Reset.

Take 3:

Just as the camera snapped, Dawson laid down with the Ham Fam.

Maybe she would like to adopt US for Christmas!

We thought that this was all so fun and hilarious.

Reset.

Take 4: Nearly Perfect.

We thought that we nailed it, but the next day, I noticed that it was slightly blurry.

It's ok that it's slightly blurry.  The Ham Fam is VERY good at taking great family photos.  Really, all three boys are well trained.  They know that it makes Mommy Very happy to have a nice photo.  However, we all know that nothing about life is perfect, even if it may appear that way in photos.  A slightly blurry photo that was so much fun to take (thanks to Dawson :) and a reminder that we are perfect just the way we are, blur and all.

With the family photo complete, we headed off to the Pomponios's where we were greeted by Mark's famous shot ski.

First up, the Pomponio family.

(Keith and I had to take it easy this year as we had to drive home rather than walk next door.)

Oliver thought that the multiple shrimp cocktail tables were the best thing ever.  This kid ate his weight in shrimp on Christmas Eve.

Keith enjoyed the fresh oysters.

Carrie loved the shrimp along with Oliver.

(My all time favorite was the lobster ravioli served with dinner.  TO. DIE. FOR!)

Ater much merriment, it was time to dine.

The kids table was bellied up and ready.

Andrew, Oliver, Kellan and Gabby.

After dinner, the Ham Fam boys were fading fast, especially Oliver.

We fired up the iPad and searched for Santa to determine how much time we had before he arrived in Colorado.

(Photos courtesy of Kellan.)

Oliver had been saying how much he wanted to go home.  We thought that it was for Santa.  He eventually told me that he was "so tired".  This photo really tells that story.

The boys were enthralled with watching Santa for some time.

They eventually moved to the couch where Pete joined them.  They noticed that Santa moved from the Bahamas to Florida and then back to the Bahamas.  By the time we left, he was in Pittsburgh.

Very Much THANKS to the Pomponio family for inviting us into your home to enjoy your tradition.  We loved it!!!

Once at home, we skipped our annual tradition of reading "The Night Before Christmas" and rolled the boys straight into bed.

At some point after their were visions of Sugar Plums Dancing in Heads, Santa had paid a visit and ate the cookies that the boys picked out especially for him.

Santa had left a few gifts that he picked out special for the boys and he placed them under the tree with care.

The stockings had been stuffed and rehung by the chimney with care.

The Ham Fam was snug as a bug in their cozy beds, Santa had paid them a visit and listed them all as Nice.  Christmas morning was going to be magical, indeed.