Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

I’m a little late posting this, but I’ll try to give a quick recap.

Hanukkah came first this year, and we had a delightful time. The big boys got the present the wanted the MOSTMOSTMOST, a Knect for the Xbox 360. Here’s a video of them getting to open it – it starts with Daddy counting to 3 so they could start to open it at the same time. (They got a little excited.)

Yes, that’s Sam crying in the background when the excitement got too loud for his tastes.

We also had a nice time at the Daneman family Hanukkah celebration at Mike and Susan’s. I don’t mean “nice” to be a slight – we’d have had much more fun if Sam hadn’t chosen that night to catch the tummy bug that was apparently going around school – all over Mike and Susan’s floor. Sorry about that – I hope it all cleaned up okay! But, before that happened, Sam got some fun playtime in with cousin Hayden.

Sam hams it up for the camera, as usual. Hayden is a bit more cautious.

Close-up of cutie cousin Hayden

Fast on the heels of Hanukkah was Christmas. We hosted the Guess and Martinez family Christmas celebration. The big boys were with us for Christmas this year, so I couldn’t have asked for a more complete Christmas. We had 13 people here, and those of y’all who couldn’t join us were definitely missed! Santa was wonderful to everyone, presents were plentiful, dinner was scrumptious (brisket, green beans, potato gratin – thank you, Southern Living, YUM – rolls, jello salad). In short, it was perfect, except for one small detail…remember that tummy bug Sam had at Hanukkah? It reared up again two days before Christmas for Caleb, and Christmas morning for my Mom. Everyone survived and we’re all healthy now. For some fun, here are some pictures from Christmas day. (Sorry they’re not very well laid out. I need to have Laura show me how she does her cool montages on her blog.)

Sam discovers his Santa loot!

Trying out the walker (Sadie popped into the frame last minute)

Getting the hang of it

Cutest Present EVER!

The festivities wore Caleb out!

Jacob was happy with his loot!

All in all, it was a great, if busy, holiday season! We had a blast in 2010, and with TCU’s Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin on New Year’s Day, 2011 looks to be just as fabulous!