Christmas Day in Philomath

Yes I know, I'm getting further and further behind. I'm pulling the sick card, as I've spent the last half of this week mostly in bed. I really want to get caught up before going on our next big trip (Vegas on 3/6), so I'm looking at 1+ post per day...we'll see, I say that a lot.

I'm giving photography credit in this post to my two wonderful sisters Amber and Candy, from whom I stole about half of these pictures. One advantage of waiting so long to post is that they are already done and I can pick through their pictures!

Christmas started bright and early in the Johnson household this year. I honestly don't think I've ever been up before 6 on Christmas, but due to the fact that church was at ten and we had people coming and going to visit other family throughout the day, we had to get a majority of Christmas done before 9, and we had 16 people (to become 18 that evening with the addition of Ben and Tasha), so the sheer number of gifts was pretty amazing. So here is a visual of tired eyes as the grandkids get to push Grandpa out of bed. Amber is assisting, and I appreciate her help to keep Olivia on the bed :).

Almost success! Grandpa is the purple and khaki blob beneath the big kids (yes he slept in full church clothes...that's my dad!).

The next tradition (ya we knocked out two before 6:30 am, that's got to be a record of some sort) is the pre-present stair picture. We are in age-ish order, and the white background includes Candy, Amber, Grandm, and Grandpa. You'll notice that I am still young enough to be seated on the stairs :).

These next pictures are of Olivia exploring her gifts from Santa. He brought her a little people zoo and farm, as well as the animals and people that went with it. A princess tent tops it off, and she was very excited. I think she would have been happier without the tent, it took her a few days to get used to crawling into a place with no visible exit. I'm also happy to report that two months later I still enjoy hearing the noises that came with these toys, including a bird song (which Alex and I can both whistle perfectly), and some monkey laughs, as well as the standard zoo and farm animal noises.

You can also notice the front window in the background of this picture. Floor space was a hot commodity with so many big gifts, and since we arrived pretty late (10ish), we were relegated the front entryway for Olivia's Santa gift. Technically not even in the same room as the tree, but we were glad for any space at all :).

The other gifts proved more exciting as soon as O heard the *zing* of Kade's new self-powered race cars. Here's a few pictures of some of the other gifts from Santa.

Santa's gift to Alex and I was a new desktop computer that I LOVE! It arrived just before our trip, and is a great addition to our house. I don't know what it is about having a computer desk that makes me feel like a grown-up, but I really like coming over to sit down and do computer-y things.

After I made her sit with me to explore her stocking, Olivia wanted nothing to do with mom on Christmas morning. All she wanted to do was sit with Grandma, and you can see her giving Kylie the stink-eye in this next picture. She loves her baby cousin, and I'm sure they will grow up to be great friends, but she was beyond tired (we woke her up about 3 hours early and moved her in the middle of her sleep), and didn't want anyone else taking "her" grandma.

One of the favorite overall gifts year was a "scoodie" and face mask from Jenaye to my mom. It was made with true Beaver-ness, even including beaver teeth on the mask. I'm sure this new set will get plenty of action at 2012 OSU football games.

During our post-church present opening session, I discovered a good way to get Olivia to come sit with me to open her presents. I came across this knowledge accidentally, as I was simply trying to help out Candy while she was opening some gifts and juggling Kylie. I took Kylie from her, and in about two seconds Olivia was off grandma's lap and squeezing herself between Kylie and me. Apparently she isn't quite ready to share her mom yet, especially on this crazy early day.

After Grandma and I switched babies, both were a little happier. Olivia was a bit territorial the entire trip, but hopefully she will get better with age, and I'm sure with our new addition she will learn to share her mommy quickly.

This isn't a good picture at all, but Olivia and our cat Psycho have a special bond. This cat, who won't sit still for anyone, is very patient with Olivia when she pets her, and Olivia will come sit by this window and just stare for a while, looking for the cat if she's not in her spot near the door. Later in the trip Olivia even brought a book over to the door to read to the cat...so sweet!

When everyone got changed after church, we noticed that all the grandkids were matching quite wonderfully, and we had a mini photo session. This isn't the best picture, but it has the best faces. I love all these kids!

My gut is telling me that this should be the end to our day. My body was telling me the same thing on Christmas. We had been going for nearly 12 hours when we headed out to Grandma Bonnie's for some Christmas evening fun. I wish a picture could show the insane happiness that occurs when we gather at Grandma's, but no picture could show that. We had a full-but-not-busting house, as some of the Portland family came later to the coast shenanigans instead of driving down Christmas day, but I always forget how many bodies can fit in that space! Personal space is limited to the 1/2 inch that surrounds your body, but I love to watch all the kids immediately start to play together and form their little age groups of friends. I'll admit that I felt like I had to be one of the grownups this year, both because I was watching my own toddler run around and because my age group playmates, Ali, Nikki, and Laura, were all unable to come for Christmas. So I settled in to my space on the floor in front of Alex's chair (how did he get the man chair? I'll never know) and chatted while the night unfolded. Yes there are plenty of tired eyes in these photos, but all the kids held up very well; better, perhaps, than their parents, at least in Olivia's case.

These matching leg warmers were a gift from the Stays. They were so cute, and it was so fun for me to have Olivia matching all of these bigger girls and running around chasing them. Maggie and Paige especially were quick to include her in their play, and to help her figure out whatever toy she had found and commandeered. Olivia is blessed, as I am, with many wonderful cousins.

Early the day after Christmas we were headed to the beach for a few days, so Christmas evening was the only opportunity for us to play with our new toys before packing them up for the drive. Alex and Dan used this chance to open up his new tabletop pool set. I think Dan beat Alex both times, but when us wives joined to play doubles it was a much closer game. I had some major improvement, and even sunk two balls in a row to give us a chance to win! We were sad to give the win up to Amber and Dan, but have to imagine that their much increased "wisdom" and "experience" will catch up to them before we battle again :).

Whew! And that ends Christmas...the Romrell Beach Excursion is next!