It's Christmas!

Christmas 2009. It was definitely a fun one! I've been anticipating getting this post ready for just under a month now, with my excuse being not having my pictures downloaded because of our computer problems. The other day I decided to just put the pictures on Matt's laptop. When I saw them, I just had to laugh. Because if i didn't I might cry. Seriously, I was putting off this post while I waited for pictures and what I realized was that we barely took any pictures.


No pictures of the gifts post Santa's visit all set up around the tree.


No pictures of the four of us dressed up after Christmas Eve worship service.


No pictures of the four of us Christmas morning (yes, we do have a tripod and I know how to work the timer on our camera).


No pictures of the four of us at any point over our week of Christmas celebration.

No pictures of any of us wearing any clothes other than pajamas (that was the part that I thought was pretty funny!)


Despite the lack of visual reminders, it was only a month ago so I remember having a great Christmas. So great that we forgot to break out the camera! :)


Here are a few of the them...



The girls eagerly awaiting giving the gifts they got each other, wearing their matching Christmas pjs. It was so sweet how much joy they got from giving a gift to their sister as well as receiving one. They were just little trinket things, but both were so delighted in the gift they got. It made me so happy!

Ella, so excited to put on the little necklace she got from Catherine. I just love the look on her face.

Well that's it for Christmas at our house! For real! What I don't have documented is the girls coming downstairs when I started playing "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Third Days and opening their gifts. Some of the faves were, a scooter for each of them, A telescope (thrift store find, go Matt!) for Ella, Leapfrog Tag for Catherine, books and Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop stuff, a fun little video camera for Ella (Great find at Woot), two new dresses for Catherine, some new Leapster games and more.

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of Monkey bread, my favorite recipe because you prepare everything the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. You can't beat the smell of it baking while you open gifts!

After the excitement wore off we packed up the car and headed to central PA to join my family for the Koerber family Christmas.

The morning after we get there we basically reinact Christmas morning at my parents house. The kids wait at the top of the stairs until the special Christmas music play (Hmmm...could that be a tradition I've taken with me?)

And now the pictures being again....

The cousins (and Uncle Mike) waiting on the stairs. As they get older the adults no longer have to sit up there with them, we are actually allowed to be downstairs. This is a moment my older brother looked forward to for years. Notice that my younger brother is still with the kids!

This is Ella, first one down the stairs, running around the corner into the family room. I love the excitment on her face, and it's also a picture I'm sure I've had taken of me growing (yeah, that's right, I beat the boys down the stairs!)

Oh look, a picture of the girls with a gift!


Yay for Pixos!! The kids got some wonderful gifts from my very generous parents!


We made some attempts to get some more cousin pictures. This one is a personal favorite...


There's just so much chaos going on! Caleb had been happy 30 seconds before but then his Aunt Chrissie sat on him! Classic Christmas moment in the Koerber household!


And even more chaos....

Only a few more left....

My most adorable niece looking precious in her new hat!

Sweet happy Catherine!
Caleb in his happy place, snuggled up close to mom!

Holding Norah...doesn't she look happy?

Oh wait, NOW she looks happy.

One final stellar picture left to share. Every year the Sandman brings us all pajamas on Christmas Eve. If at all possible, they are matching. Usually the adults are the ones who are lucky enough to all have matching pjs.

Because this is the closest to a family picture I have....

Yes I know there are no men, but they did not cooperate in wearing their matching pjs, making this an all female shot!

Some favorite memories of our time with my family...

As always, watching the cousins playing together, especially when my mom joins them for hide and seek. They all try and outdo each other to findthe best hiding spots.

Playing the Wii Fit plus games after the kids went to bed and laughing our heads off at each other.

Watching the Steelers game with my family (and then losing power with 2 minutes to go and the Steelers up 3 over Baltimore).

Watching Ella, Isaac and Catherine attempt to sled in my parents back yard in barely an inch of snow. They made it work for a suprisingly long time and it was a bit surreal that they were all capable enough to be out there doing it on their own!

I didn't experience this, but it's a highlight for my kids. For the second year in a row my parents took the older cousins to this massive light display in a nearby town, one that you drive through and then at the end you park and walk through a section with trains and whatnot. In Ella's words "it rocks!"

The few days passed far too quickly and before we knew it, the van was once again loaded down and we were headed down to Matt's family in Maryland for another family celebration!

By this time Matt and I were both coming down with head colds, so I spent Tuesday feeling a bit out of it and then taking a nap on Matt's sister's couch while the kids played. Thankfully all four of the cousins play really well and rarely want us to come hang out with them!

Aside from the fun gifts and hours and hours of play time with their cousins, the highlight of our time in Maryland was our trip to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Going to the movies the week between Christmas and New Year's is always a crazy experience because even the 11am movies are absolutely mobbed. It was a really fun time and the kids loved it. I have to say I went in with low expectations and ended up enjoying it. A nice surprise was seeing Zach Levi (Chuck) playing the roll of Dave's deadbeat nephew. Also, Hok from So You Think You Can Dance played a small part in the end!

We love having the whole week of Christmas to really be on vacation and spend time with family. As much as some people might think it's hard to be traveling I love that December 26th - Jan 1st is almost as exciting as Christmas day (not taking away from that special day of celebrating Jesus' birth) because of the loved ones that we spend that week with. I think we're pretty darn lucky!!! :