Holidays, how I love thee...

...and how sad I am to see you go, along with my 16-day vacation (sort of). The important stuff:

• Five Christmas gatherings and four occasions to open presents. Noah would like to know when Santa is going to bring more presents. Lucky for us, his birthday is half a year away as opposed to waiting another 355+ days for the reindeer to land on our roof again and for Santa to leave a sack full of goodness under our dying Christmas tree.
• We have an enormous bounce house in our living room. It's about six feet tall—and wide—and resembles a study in primary colors. I have dubbed it "sanity in the time of winter." This week, with sub-zero windchills, I'm mighty happy to have it. Bounce on, Noah (oh, and mommy and daddy, aka Santa, ROCK for thinking of it as a Christmas gift). Eventually, it will live in the basement, crowding our pool table and collection of dead animals gracing the back wall.
• I will never, ever forget watching my Dad try out the new Wii and WiiFit we bought for him and my mom. A handful of us watched from the comfort of couches as Dad created his Mii character and then was subjected to WiiFit's reassessment of his physical stature (I've been there too!). It was, hands down, hilarious.
• Thanks to Gina & Tommy and Jeff & Emily, I got my baby fix. They both have newborns—five months and just a few weeks—and I got to snuggle with both little men. Ahh.
• Noah now has a wealth of ways to zoom. Santa Frazier begat him a motorcycle, a scooter and a big wheel. Pedestrians beware!
• Animals beware too: we also picked up a new Nerf gun, as well as a crossbow and shotgun. There are an unbelievable number of Nerf bullets tucked in every corner and crevice of our house. We are armed to the hilt!
• My favorite gift this year? A toss up between trendy sweaters, a badly needed GPS and a bevy of gift cards.

And now a pictorial review:

At Great-Grandma Danielson's house on Christmas Eve. The ladies wrap up their card game.
The bounce house waiting for Noah to wake up and be delighted by it (and he was!).

Noah posing with his beloved Christmas gift. We had to bribe him with gummy worms to open his other presents because he just wanted to keep on bouncing.

A Christmas snuggle with my favorite little man.
Cheesin' it up with Daddy.
McCamey looking like a vision in her Christmas getup.
Baby Rylan! I loved his little Santa suit.
Cousins = wrestling, at least if you're Noah.
Our attempt to organize the boys for a photo opp, and Noah clearly wanting to play instead.
My Uncle's house on the 26th. Some of the crew having brunch (do cookies go with eggs?).

And the other side of the table.


Look at baby Tommy and Gina!


Present time. The kids are done and the adults are waiting for our White Elephant exchange (only with good gifts).

Noah got a band in a box!
Looks like TJ was a big winner with Mighty Putty.

Some of the second cousins (minus 10+ kids).

And on to Grandma Frazier's house on the 27th.

Noah got a motorcycle! (and a helmet too; safety first!)

More wheels!

Rodney the dog wants to know what's in the package.

Ready to take on the roads now.

And, for the record, I did finally open the bottle of champagne in our fridge this year on New Year's Eve. It was a but drier than I usually take it, but I thought it was a waste to let it go yet another year before popping that cork. And, after all, a new decade is fitting for bubbly!