Merry Christmas

I wish I had pictures to post, but I left the ever-important cable at home. So you'll be overwhelmed with photos (and video too) in a few more days. In the meantime, just picture us:

- eating

- shopping

- eating

- playing cars

- creating snow men (or snow deer, since these snowmen have real antlers... this is Montana, after all)

- watching football

- reading

- eating

- playing cars

- playing cards

- eating

- reading

- visiting the Museum of the Rockies

- eating

- playing cars

Other than all that entertainment (trust me, the eating has been spectacular!), the best part for us, of course, is watching Zach with family. He and his grandparents have had great fun, and now that his cousins are here, the fun has notched up another level. Both girls are amazingly patient will Zach's insistence that they play cars and little else. :)

And, of course, the gift-opening frenzy was a highlight. I have to admit my favorite was observing how differently all the kids handled the experience - you could see their individual personalities coming through. Bryn, Zach's 7-year-old cousin, was absolutely psyched by the idea of the presents, and for the days leading up to Xmas Eve, was regularly sorting through the stacks, counting hers and creating appropriate piles. And when it came time to open - she flew through that paper, exclaiming loudly with delight at each gift before she quickly moved on to the next one.

Maryn (age 5), on the other hand, took a different yet equally charming approach. She wasn't too interested in the gifts ahead of time, let Bryn do all the handing out, and then took her time opening each present. Her reaction to each one was priceless - you honestly felt like you had just given her the best gift she would ever receive in her life. And she often left her stack of presents to come and ooh and ahh over a gift you had just opened. Bryn had to keep reminding her to come and open more presents!

And then there was Zach, with his own unique approach. Like Maryn, he wasn't the least bit interested in the wrapped gifts in the days before Christmas Eve. When he opened the first gift, he instantly wanted it taken out of the package so he could play with it. We made the mistake of doing so early on, and from that point on he had no interest in opening any more presents! Scott has to practically bribe him to keep going. :)

I have lots more updates, but I'll call it good for now. I hope your Christmas has been as filled with family, food, fun, and joy as ours has. Merry Christmas!

PS... I'm also happy to announce the potty-training progress has continued!