Christmas Day*

*Prepare yourself. This was our first functional Christmas with a child. There crazy amounts of pictures, and that's after I slimmed them down!
We spent Christmas with my side of the family this year. Christmas Eve was the big family get together, filled with delicious aromas, even more delicious food, delightful company and games for everyone. Vati read us the story of Christ's birth from Luke 2. It's funny how that story used to drag on FOREVER when we were tots, but really it's just a few verses of scripture. Does everything speed up with age?
The next morning, my rockin' mom got up with Rudy and let Jason and me sleep in! Hooray! It was great! We finally got around to opening presents after Rudy's first nap. By his last present, I think Rudy had finally comprehended what he is supposed to do when a box wrapped in bright paper is placed before him. He did a lot of gift opening the Tuesday before Christmas when he opened all the gifts from Jason's family. Thanks to everyone who so generously showered our sweetie with all sorts of awesomeness!
Anyway, on with the pictures!

This is our Christmas tree at home. We put it on top of the piano for 2 reasons: to keep it from being dissected by an inquisitive one year old, and because there was no where else to put it in our crammed front room. We've tried to cut down on what we have out there, but when one room has to simultaneously serve as entertainment room, office, music room, play room, and dining room, space gets to be a bit scarce. :)

Rudy in his Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa. Oma showed him how to vacuum with the Dustbuster and he was quite proud of his new abilities.

"Holy Moly! How many more boxes are you going to put in front of me?"

Rudy really like his football from Oma and Opa. Jason really liked that Rudy really liked it. :)

Of all the gifts Rudy opened that morning, the one that captivated his attention for the longest period of time was a microwave popcorn bag from our family's stocking. He carried that around off and on all day long.

Jason and I gave Rudy a "Who Love's Rudy?" book with all his relatives' pictures in it and an album to put a few of his millions of childhood pictures in. He likes pointing at family members' faces and having their names recited to him.

Over night on Christmas Eve and all of Christmas day, snow kept falling in Midway. We got at least 2 feet of snow, and that's on top of what was already up here! This is Rudy standing in the sidewalk canyon between towers of snow.

Here's another shot to show off how deep the snow was up there- plus this reminded me so much of the little brother in "A Christmas Story" after his mom bundled him so much he couldn't put his arms down. It was under 20 degrees Fahrenheit...can you blame me for layering?

Jason's big jump into the (kinda) fluffy snow.

Sledding with Sam. Rudy would have none of this sledding craziness, so I substituted Sam. He was a good sport about it...I think he may have even enjoyed it.

Sam swimming through the snow. Cute little rump, huh?

Rudy, Mutti, and Sam, chilling.

Going solo down the sledding hill.

Sam, the Sled Valet. Park your sled at the bottom of the hill, and Sam will drag it back to the top for you...or at least try. A ten week old pup can only do so much!

So, there you have it. Christmas in Midway. We spent most of the day lounging about, eating, or playing in the snow. What a great time. Thanks for hosting us into the weekend, Mutti and Vati, and Merry Christmas to everyone!