MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas all! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas despite all of the craziness that the season tends to bring. This year was a wonderful Christmas. Many good times were had. On the 23rd Dan, Bonnie, Cole and I had our little Christmas in the morning. Santa was very good to us all.

This is our traditional family picture. I think this was the first year we were all looking at the camera and all of our eyes were open. It was a huge success.

The excitement of all the presents was almost

too much for Cole. He thought all of the

presents under the tree were all for him.

This year for Christmas I bought Cole the Easy Bake Oven. He loves to bake. He was pretty excited when he saw what was in the box. He went off right away and wanted to make us all cakes. Bonnie and I both wanted the easy bake when we were little, so this brought back good memories for both of us. Somehow we both remembered the cakes tasting better back then too.

On the 24th I headed over to my family gatherings. In the evening we had Christmas dinner at my Grandma's with the works...turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc. It was very yummy, but I knew this was only the beginning of the many dinners I would consume, so I unfortunately had to pace myself. Grandma wanted a family picture before dinner, so this is my family. The last family picture we took together was when I was in grade 7. It was long over due.

Following dinner, we all packed up to go to church for the Christmas Eve service. After the service we came back to my Grandma's to read the Christmas story and open gifts. Once again, Santa was very good to us. People weren't feeling great this year, so our rousing game of Rook had to wait until the next time we all got togther.

My cousin Lucas and my brother Kevin

My cousin Dillon


Christmas morning we spend with just our family. For brunch we all head out to the Sheraton with my mom's extended family. In the afternoon we went to my dad's side of the family for yet another dinner. At this point I thought my stomach was about to bust!!!

My cousins Loreena and Lorissa on my dad's side of the family.

Boxing day, my parents took me, my brothers and their girlfriends to Minneapolis for some Christmas sale shopping. It was wonderful. Damage was definitely done at both the Albertville outlet mall and at the Mall of America.

These were my purchases while I was in Minneapolis. Some favorite stores included, Forever 21, Target, Ikea, Aeropostale, Bath and Body Works, J Crew, H&M and Banana Republic. It was a very successful shopping trip if I do say so myself.

I saw this lamp at Ikea and I thought it was the coolest thing.

So that was my week of Christmas in a nutshell. I hope you and all of your families had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our King and spending time with friends and family. I wish you all a safe and happy new year!