Christmas in Iowa

Christmas 2014 is in the books!  We celebrated no fewer than five times this year - twice in Iowa, twice in Wichita, and once with our immediately family at home in Olathe.  To say the boys were spoiled would be a huge understatement.  I think we doubled tripled the amount of toys we own.  But that's okay, because seeing the joy and excitement on Brantley's face makes it all worth it!  (I would say Holden's, too, but let's be honest, until they are older, they just don't get it.)  I saw a quote on Facebook on Christmas morning that read "I used to think being a kid on Christmas was the best thing ever but it turns out having kids on Christmas is!"  Isn't that the truth?!  I think this Christmas was my favorite to date in my 31 years of life!  Brantley is finally old enough to understand and it was so much fun to experience the magic of Christmas through his eyes.

This year, we spent Christmas Day in Wichita, which meant the weekend before, we headed to Iowa to celebrate with my family.  Brantley loves staying at Grandma and Papa's house and playing with his cousin Kellen, so I'm glad we were able to go, even if for less than 48 hours.
 
On Friday night, my grandparents came over to give the boys their presents.  Holden couldn't have cared less about his (he enjoyed climbing on the boxes), but Brantley was more than happy to help him open.

On Saturday, we went to my sister's house so that Brantley and Kellen could play for awhile, headed back to my parents for naps, and then celebrated our Christmas on Saturday evening.  I tried to get one decent photo of the cousins, but you can see how that went...

#MaybeNextYear 

#OrNotBecauseThereWillBeAnotherBaby

Gift opening was pretty much the same.  Brantley tore into his gifts; Holden was more like "whatevs."  But both made out like a bandit - a workbench, a Thomas the Train set, "Slugger" Build-a-Bears, an activity cube, a fishing toy, pajamas, some clothes, a shopping cart, a cash register, and a Jayhawk pillow pet.  And remember - we still had three Christmases to go!

 

And finally - a picture of my family.  Somewhat of a Christmas miracle if you ask me because all nine of us are looking!!

That pretty much sums up our Christmas in Iowa.  Next up, Christmas in Wichita!