Christmas 2009!

Where do I even begin??!! This Christmas season has been CRAZY busy and exhausting, but most of all FUN!!!!!!!!

My dad and Cory flew in on Tuesday and were welcomed by FREEZING temperatures and a few inches of snow. We were so happy to have a white Christmas, but sadly, the cold put a damper on some of our plans.

On Wednesday, I had planned for us to all go to the North Pole about an hour away, but since it is outside and the high that day was 12, we decided to skip it. We ended up trying out the Wildlife Experience in Denver which was fun, but AJ is a few years too young for it. He did enjoy seeing all the animals and running around, but was more fascinated by the snow blower outside the building than anything.

On Thursday, Pop & Grammy Cory got to experience Little Monkey Bizness. AJ got to run around and play with other kids and play on all the toys there while we watched. Pop & Grammy were amazed at how much AJ has changed in the past 3 months. He was running around all week saying "Pop! Pop!" So cute!

Then, that night we all went over to my mom and Dave's for Christmas Eve dinner. I feel SO incredibly lucky that although my parents are divorced and remarried, they get along and are willing to spend the holidays together. I can't tell you how much easier this is on me and how comfortable it is.

So, my Mom cooked up this WONDERFUL meal; prime rib, corn, salad and all the fixins. YUMMY! We enjoyed the meal together and then it was time to get AJ to bed because SANTA was coming!!!

On Christmas, AJ woke up early (you'd have thought he actually KNEW Santa was coming??!!) and I made breakfast and we started opening presents. We opened..and opened...and opened...and opened....For THREE hours we opened presents! Somewhere in there my Mom & Dave come over so we could exchange with them as well. My house looked (and still does look) like a bomb of presents went off! AJ's pile of presents was ridiculous! He got SO many wonderful gifts! The gift of the year though was the TRAIN. He got FIVE trains for Christmas- all different ones. Santa got him this awesome ride on train (see video below), Grandpa Dave got him this beautiful wood train, Pop & Grammy got him this awesome small wood train, Grandma got him a ride on Vtech train and then I got him some train bath toys. It was CHOOO CHOOO allllll day long!

AJ also got some other amazing gifts. Oma and Papa got him this wonderful Vtech giraffe that is a stationary bike. When he rides it, it talks to him and teaches him letters and colors among other things. He LOVES it! In fact, yesterday I heard him on it and he started trying to say some letters.

We had a really amazing Christmas this year. It was so nice to be with family and to all be able to watch AJ enjoy the season. He learned to open presents and I felt like he really appreciated each thing he opened (As much as he could).