Christmas at the Lake and then at Great Grandma Ruth's!

Sunday morning came bright and early at Twin Lakes. Uncle Adam, Aunt Sarah and cousins Nolan, Landon, and Mabel arrived shortly after 8:00, and we all sat down to a yummy breakfast of eggbake, cinnamon rolls, and fresh fruit. After the delicious meal, the excited kids (and adults) opened stockings. Then it was present time! The kids were so spoiled by everyone! We took a few of the gifts out of their packaging and the kids had fun playing together. Then before you knew it, it was time to head to Great Grandma Ruth's.

Unfortunately, in my typical style I had forgotten our camera charger in Northwood and the battery in our camera was nearly dead, so I did not get any pictures from Grandma Ruth's. We enjoyed a lovely meal together, opened gifts, and then the kids played outside for a while. Adam gave some rides on the gator with a car roof as a sled. The kids loved it! After all the fun the kids were getting worn out, so we loaded up the gifts and headed back to Grandma Marjean and Grandpa Dale's.

We enjoyed a relaxing evening and then bunkered down for the snowstorm. We had planned on leaving Monday, but delayed our departure until Tuesday because of the wind and snow. It was nice to spend the extra day especially since Grandma Marjean had taken the day off and cousin Landon came out to play and spend the night! The kids had a great day, but by Tuesday morning we were ready to head back to Northwood and get into a normal routine.

What a wonderful holiday season! Filled with so many blessings!!

Sibling time.

Cleaning up the wrapping paper.

Ohhh, new clothes!

Another present.

Look at my new game :)

Giving daddy a shot.

Cuddling with grandma and Nolan.

Racing his new cars on his new track.

Cousin love!

Candyland!

How many people can fit in the igloo fort?

Cool :)

Cousin love!

Enjoying popcorn and watching Cars 2!

Ramthun Christmas!

Saturday the 26th we loaded up the car and headed back to our first stop of the day at Great Grandpa Ron's for the Ramthun Christmas. By the time we arrived many family members had already arrived, but they just kept coming! The house was busting at the seams by the end of the day, but it was wonderful to spend the day with so much family!

At noon we had an assortment of soups and goodies. Then we got some great family photos, but you will have to check out my Aunt Denise's facebook page to take a look those. We opened gifts and the older boys hooked up a semi hood to the gator and gave rides to the little kids (and adults :) Then the big boys took it for some more extreme rides. Ask Uncle Adam for details if you'd like :)

By the end of the evening the kids were exhausted, and we packed on up and headed to grandma Marjean and Grandpa Dale's. It was an awesome day!!!

Aubrey prepared herself for the Ramthun's by taking a nap in the car. She knew it would be a good party :)

Now Aubrey is ready to go.

Aubrey with Great Aunt Brenda.

Great Grandpa Ron and Grandpa Dennis sharing some food. So cute :)

Can you say full house?

We were packed in there :)

Aubrey opening her present.

Caleb and Mabel hanging out.

Fun with Great Aunt Denise.

Some of the girls having fun!

And the big boys and little kids!

And again.

Caleb, Nolan, and Great Uncle Dave.

A game of bananagrams.

A family photo before we get ready for bed.

And Caleb kept falling asleep while Grandma Marjean read to him before bed. He had a fun day!

Christmas Day 2015!

Christmas Day finally arrived, but luckily for us the kids slept in until about 7:30. I had woken up to make monkey bread in the oven earlier, so by the time we sat down to open stockings and presents it was cooking in the oven. As we opened gifts we were disturbed by the smell of smoke...Silly me had neglected to put a pan under the bunt pan and the caramel was burning in the bottom of the oven. As we tried to clear out the smoke the kids continued to enjoy their Christmas morning.

Santa left a new guitar for Caleb (He had broken one of the two he had gotten last year and was adamant that he needed it replaced :) and Aubrey got a Frozen ride on toy. The kids enjoyed opening their stockings, and then opened a couple of gifts from us and each other. Caleb had picked out a barbie for Aubrey, and Aubrey gave Caleb the dvd Home.

After we cleaned out the oven a bit we finished cooking the monkey bread. Then we enjoyed some monkey bread, sausages, OJ, and coffee. When we were done we headed over to the park to enjoy some sledding with the rest of the Johnson clan. The kids had a blast!!! We will have to do it again!

Then we headed back home, and I got to work making ham balls and mashed potatoes for noon. Unfortunately, it just wasn't my day and I realized I didn't have any tomato soup for the sauce for the ham balls. Luckily Teresa did, so Jay ran over a can of tomato soup and we were saved. We enjoyed lunch and then put the kids up for naps. Aubrey went right to sleep, but Caleb must have been too excited. He was in his room for almost 2 hours and never fell asleep!

By 4:00 we packed up the car and headed over to Grandma Teresa's. We enjoyed some yummy soup for supper and lots of other goodies. We did our annual gift exchange between the women and unfortunately this year only Troy and Matt were prepared to exchange gifts between the men. I ended up with a very nice serving dish that can be used in 5 different ways. Matt got a nice lantern and a new heavy duty scrapper and brush for his vehicle. We stayed until about 9:00, but the kids were getting overly tired, so we headed home to rest up before we headed back to the Manson area the next day.

Caleb almost walked right past his gift from Santa.

Aubrey was worried about sitting on the bow :)

Showing his guitar to Aubrey.

Giving her new wheels a try.

Stocking time! (I'm surprised there isn't any smoke in the background.)

Opening more from his stocking.

Aubrey loves M&Ms!

An ornament Caleb made in 3 year old preschool.

Caleb got a couple more guns.

Then he and Aubrey had to try them out.

Aubrey loves to throw away the wrapping paper.

The last present...it took Aubrey over an hour to open all of her presents...and she only had 5 :)

Sledders up on the hill

Aubrey only went down the hill a couple of times. This time she tried it with Uncle Jay Jay.

All bundled up!

Look closely and you  can see Jaxon trying to pull Caleb up the hill. Luckily Jay came to the rescue after a couple of failed attempts. :)

Caleb loved his new sled!

Jaxon getting into it!

Daddy and Caleb going together.

Triple-decker! Grandma Teresa, Jaxon, and Caleb!

Jaxon and Caleb

Sled train with Jay, Jaxon, and Caleb

Aubrey wanted to walk around on the hill but kept losing her balance. It was too funny.

Ready to go at Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Craig's!

Boys playing games :)

Aubrey and Sammi

Aubrey and Jaxon working on some dance moves!

Great Grandma Betty and Aubrey taking some time to color.

Passing out some gifts.

Aubrey opening her doodlePro. She loves to draw!

And then picking up after everybody else :)