Run, Run Rudolph!

To say we were busy this Christmas season is an understatement! We have been going non-stop since Friday morning! I got all of the wrapping done on Thursday, just in time! I took the day off to finalize everything and prepare for the busy weekend.


Friday morning found my Mom, Terry, Jason, Jen, Celia & Ruby all at the house for our annual Christmas Eve gathering. We spent some much needed time catching up and had a very nice breakfast before the kids dove into the presents!

I should mention, Lila wasn't feeling that great!

Lila got a personalized "Anywhere Chair" from Pottery Barn Kids from my Mom & Terry! She had tried one out at our friends house and didn't leave it for most of the night, so we knew that this had to be on her list! Not only has it been a hit for her, but Baxter seems to think it looks pretty cozy too!

Ruby, our niece, is 3 years old and wants nothing more in the world than to be a veterinarian when she grows up. We got her a vet set that was equipped with everything, including these hilarious glasses...not sure why the kit has glasses, but either way, it was pretty cute watching the girls put them on!

Jason and Jen got Lila some musical instruments to go along with Kindermusik classes that Lila will be attending every Monday morning with her Aunt Jen for a few months! She loved the instruments and we know she will absolutely love the class!

Uh-oh! I think we forgot to open a very special present...

Santa wrapped up Ruby!

After the morning events we loaded up and headed to Monticello to spend the late afternoon/evening with the Zumbach side of the family. We had quite the snow fall on Friday, so it made for a slower trip, but it was so pretty out, so we didn't mind spending a little bit more time in the car!

It is always so nice spending time with everyone as we don't get to see them that often. We always enjoy catching up with everyone and seeing Mike's grandmother. This year was bittersweet as it has been a year since the family lost Albert, Mike's grandpa. All in all the family is doing very well, but Albert's presence was definitely missed.

Alas! Christmas morning was upon us! Mike and I were a bit fearful that we would have to wake Lila up to open presents. She was tuckered from all of the festivities the day before! Once awake, she was up and raring to go! We had been looking forward to opening presents with her for weeks!

We will have to send a note to Santa to not leave a baby doll in Lila's stocking again next year, while it was very thoughtful of him, it was so exciting to her that she really could care less about everything else he brought her!

What's in this peculiar looking package?!

Why, it is an old school shape sorter, just like Mommy & Daddy used to have!!!

Lots and lots of toys, clothes galore and her very own table and chairs and an indoor/outdoor slide to play with...this little girl was clearly on Santa's GOOD list!

Even the puppies joined in on the gift opening! I might have to let Santa know that they are usually more on the naughty side than the nice side! BUT...we love them anyway!

Happy Dogs!

After our morning at home we loaded the family sleigh up with presents and headed to my Dad's house. I am pretty sure they have the BIGGEST tree in Cedar Rapids, no kidding!

They had to saw some of the top off to get it to fit!

Eddins Family - Christmas 2010!

Once again, lots of great gifts from Grandpa and Laura! On a funny note...a very similar baby to the one that was in Lila's stocking at home was in her stocking at Grandpa's house too! Once again, NOT much interest in anything else!

She did get some doll accesories like a high chair, crib, food, etc. that she was happy to include in her playtime up there! But Mom & Dad had to open pretty much everything for her because she was busy!

We had one more stop on our Christmas Day travels, my grandparents in Strawberry Point. We got there mid-afternoon, just in time for presents to be opened. We were thrilled to present my grandparents with a large gift card from all of us to help them put new flooring in their new place in Arizona! It was awesome to see the look of surprise on their faces! They head south the day after Christmas and won't be back until April. We usually see them in January when we head to Arizona, but this year we decided to stick close to home. We will miss them dearly, but will be sure to keep in touch and will see them when they come back home around Easter! And we can't wait to hear all about the progress on their new flooring!

Last, but not least was our Eddins Christmas today! We let Lila get a good nap in to recharge her batteries for our last celebration. We spent the better part of the day enjoying a delicious dinner, opening presents and spending time together.

Considering this was Lila's 7th Christmas in a week, she was still taking it all in stride! She enjoyed opening the first few presents including an International Harvester tractor, just like her Great Grandpa Wayne had on the farm!

It wasn't long though before she had, had enough of the opening and was using the presents as climbing toys! Whatever! As long as she was having fun and had a smile on her face, right?!

This time of year is truly one of my favorites, even though we are so busy. The traditions that Mike and I both have from when we were young, the traditions we have made, the two of us, over the 12 years we have been together and now the traditions we are starting to make within our own little family make all the running around worth it and are what the season is all about. The presents are all wonderful, but at the end of the day, it is the people that you make the exchange with that are the true gifts!

We hope you all had a Christmas filled with LOVE, BLESSINGS & the MAGIC of the season!

Let the festivities begin!

Our Christmas celebrations were kicked off today! We loaded up and headed to Lamont to celebrate with my Smith side. This is a big celebration as there are 30 of us, just in our immediate family!

Mike and I didn't know what to expect with Lila when it came to the celebrations this year, but she was very curious and enjoyed all of the commotion!

Are any of these presents for me?!

Eddins Family - Christmas 2010!

Lila enjoyed playing Grandma's organ, she was pretty funny, it wasn't just pounding, she spent time pushing each key! You could tell she thought it was beautiful music!

You can imagine her delight when she opened up one of her gifts and it was her very own keyboard! Equipped with a microphone that she had a great time talking into!

My cousin Jamie is expecting a little girl in March, Lila was keeping her company...good training for the mommy-to-be!

Do you remember last year when Lila spent a large amount of time snuggled in the box that her quilt came in? We thought it was just the quilt that intrigued her...

NOPE! I am sensing a pattern here...

After all of the fun and excitement, Lila was pooped! We thought she was going to give in to her fatigue. Grandpa even snuggled her all in with her blankie, puppy and lovey. She was awfully close, but there was still too much excitement!

We spent a full day with wonderful family, enjoying each other's company, many laughs, great food and thoughtful gifts. During Christmas we are reminded just how blessed we are!

Big Shoes to Fill!

A Santa Sighting and Other Magical Moments!

Yes, you heard me...we had a visit from Santa again this year at TrueNorth! Santa, Mrs. Claus, Vixen the reindeer and several elves were the guests of honor in the Fire & Ice parade in downtown Cedar Rapids. They left the North Pole a little early to stop in at TrueNorth for all the little boys and girls to sit on Santa's lap, get a picture and a special toy before heading over to the parade!


Last year Lila didn't mind Santa, she was still young enough to go to just about anyone and be content. This year I was a bit fearful of what she would do as she is exhibiting a bit of "stranger danger!" She did okay, not as bad as I thought she would, she was definitely reaching for Mommy & Daddy, but no tears! We always have such a nice time at the TrueNorth event, it was fun making a craft ornament for Lila marking the 2010 Christmas season that will hang on the tree this year!

Today we hoped in the car and headed north to Strawberry Point to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Harvey for our 4th Annual cookie baking! This is a very special tradition in my family because it is a girls trip that I do with my sister-in-law, two nieces and three of my very best friends!

Learning the mixer!

This was a special year because it was Lila's first year to be a part of the fun! Mike headed to the Green Bay Packers game, so we loaded her up and off we went! She did really good despite not having a nap and adjusting to all of the commotion! After a couple hours of baking, some really delicious homeade pizza and lots of frosting and sprinkles we had oodles and oodles of cookies to enjoy!

The end product!

The baking crew!

We have so much fun together and the memories only get better and better as we are growing up and able to share the traditions with each other and our growing families! We are already looking forward to next year!

It's Official...

The lights are up! Thanksgiving has come and gone...CHRISTMAS is coming!

A Celebration of Love

This weekend was one in which we celebrated the love of our good friend Josh and his fiance Michelle! The celebration started on Friday with a rehearsal at the church and then dinner at the Clarion hotel. The boys all headed to the church and the wives met up with them at the dinner. It has been awhile since all of us have been together at the same time, so we had a great time Friday night laughing and reminiscing!

Saturday was the BIG day! It was gloomy and cold, but the weather wasn't going to put a damper on the bride and grooms day! We met up with the bridal party right before the wedding started and got to say "hello!" to Josh, you could tell he was nervous, but very excited to see his bride!

Lookin' good!

The wedding went off without a hitch! Everyone looked great, especially Michelle, she was an absolutely beautiful bride! You couldn't help but smile every time you looked at Josh, he was giddy! The minister, Father Vu, was fun to watch and listen to, he razzed Michelle and Josh a little bit which had the whole congregation giggling with them through the ceremony.

"With this ring..."

After the wedding we headed to the reception at the Longbranch. After dinner the dance got underway, it is always moving to see the bride and groom dance their first dance together! After Josh and Michelle danced Josh shared a dance with his new step-daughter Melina, it was so precious to see them bonding on the dance floor!

After all the formal wedding dances it was time for the real fun to begin! The music got louder and the beats got stronger and as we boogied through the night we all thought we were professional dancers...the only one that probably deserves credit for being any good is Mike, but you couldn't tell the rest of us that!

"Oh the Red Strokes..."

Male bonding!

Cheers!

We really had a great time! Thank you to Josh and Michelle for including us in your special day! We wish you all the best as husband and wife!

Needless to say with all the partying going on, we didn't do much today other than sit around and read the paper!

Road Trip

This weekend marked our 3rd Annual trip with Brandon and Monica Hahn to celebrate our anniversaries! Our first anniversary found us celebrating with them as they were getting married and the last two years we went back to Galena to celebrate. This year we decided to try something different and now that we both have families we wanted to include the girls in this trip.

Friday morning we loaded the car up and we were off to Wisconsin to visit the Dells! This was the first time for every one of us to visit, so we really had no idea what to expect other than what we have heard from others.

We pulled up to our cabin at the Wilderness Resort and were pleased with what we saw! The inside was just as nice too! It was perfect, 3 bedrooms and a loft, which allowed us plenty of space for the adults and the kids!

We got settled in, grabbed some lunch and then off to the indoor waterpark it was! The girls really enjoyed themselves, I think Mike enjoyed it just as much as Lila!

Getting her "feet wet!"

Having a blast!

Mike decided to try a few water slides with Lila on his lap! To say she loved it is an understatement. Before they could even get to the top of the slide and sit down she would be squealing and saying "weeeee!!!"

When we left the waterpark Lila was devastated, bawling, she didn't want all the fun to end. It actually broke my heart. After the park it was back to the cabin to get the girls cleaned up and down early to recoup from the travel. The cabin was equipped with a full kitchen and a very nice grill so we took advantage of the amenities and ate at the cabin quite a bit. It was nice, when the girls went down we were still able to enjoy each other as adults without having to retreat to hotel rooms early.

The girls had such a great time together! Lila enjoyed showing Henley the ropes, some of which I am not sure were the safest, such as climbing the stairs! They were so much fun to watch as they interacted by mimicking each other and talking in their own little language! They are both such a pleasure to be around and are on virtually the same schedule, so it was a very easy time having them along.

Saturday brought beautiful weather for us to enjoy! One interesting thing about the Dells is that during the fall and winter a lot of the town shuts down. Now, logically the waterparks would shut down when it gets cold, but that is only one part, even restaurants close down. So, it was a bit of a comedy show trying to find things to do, but we managed! After Monica and I did some shopping we picked the guys and girls up for lunch and then hit the strip to find some fun.

Our first stop was at a go-kart track! The guys picked out their cars and off they went! Brandon thought picking the pink car would be a great choice and even more insulting if he beat Mike driving such a feminine car, well along with it being pink it was S-L-O-W!!! So, Monica and I got great giggles watching the guys make leisurely laps around this go-kart track, it wasn't quite the race they were looking for!

Our next adventure was a trip on the Original Wisconsin Duck Tour! For those of you that don't know a "Duck" is a vehicle that both operates on land as well as in the water. It was a bit brisk, but with warm jackets and blankets we loaded up and off we went!

Snuggled up!

Beautiful water view!

Taking in the sights!

Wilderness up close!

The weekend was a success! We had such a great time hanging out with the Hahn's and starting yet another tradition, traveling with our families! We look forward to the many years ahead of us and are super excited for the 2011 edition of the Eddins/Hahn Annual Trip!

A special Happy Anniversary to Monica and Brandon as they celebrate 3 years of wedded bliss! You are an amazing couple and we are so lucky to have you both in our lives! We wish you many more years of happiness! Thank you for including us in your celebration!