Christmas with the Cousins

Our Christmas stretched out to be quite a few days because of sick grandchildren, Chad and family out of town, and conflicting work schedules.  We finally chose January 6th as the day for opening gifts from cousins.  As you can see from the picture below, I had already started taking down my Christmas decorations.  My mom loved to decorate the house at Christmastime and she passed that gene onto me.  Do you think I have enough plastic boxes?  When it comes time to pack everything up, I seem to have at least one more plastic box to put up in the attic.

 Isabella was just chillin' with her new tablet she got from Santa.  Modern technology has brought forth a new generation of toys for Christmas.  Isabella is 2 1/2 years old and knows how to work this tablet which is like an I Pad.  I don't even know how to use an I Pad.

 Gabi received a Monster High set from her cousins in Vegas.  Sweet Gabi loves these dolls that have monster looking faces (actually that doesn't describe them correctly) and now she can make her own.

 Isabella received a magnetic Princess toy.  The days of paper dolls are over.  Now, they make the figures out of magnets so that they stay on the metal case.  This way, no lost pieces.

 Little Kyle received blocks as his gift and also a Mickey Mouse book.  He LOVES Mickey Mouse.

 Papa helped Holland open his presents.  Although I do have to say that Holland enjoyed unwrapping the presents more than the presents themselves.

 Are these not the cutest cheeks you have ever seen?  You just want to take your fingers and squeeze those cheeks.

 I love Holland's face in this picture representing that he is so happy for Papa that he received a gift also.  Maren made Eric a plaque that says "PAPA, The Man, The Myth, The Legend".  Braydon reads it and says, "You aren't a legend yet."

 Sophia received a scentsy stuffed elephant from her cousin Isabella.  The elephant is so soft and all Sophia kept doing was putting her face into the elephant, come up for air, and down she went again.

 Isabella received this Minnie Mouse dress from Jocie.  Minnie is Isabella's hero.  And, we did get a dance or two out of Isabella.

 The day we did Cousin Christmas was January 6th, one day before Maren's 28th birthday.  We had a delicious cookie cake to celebrate.

 After the festivities, the young people got together to play a game.  I sat and watched and listened.  I had some good laughs.

 Ryan pulled a card that said he had to hold the hand of the person to his left.  He and Kyle just loved this.

 Gabi and Braydon both enjoy their Kindles and tablets.  They are great cousins and enjoy sharing happy times together.

 Isabella just had to show off her Disney pink boots.  On the sides of each boot, there is a Cinderella Castle and therefore she calls them her castle boots.

 I wasn't able to see Isabella in her Christmas dress because just about every grandchild was sick and didn't make it to church.  Maren brought Braydon and Isabella over so that I could have pictures of Isabella in her new dress.  Braydon is a great big brother and they love each other very much.

I love this picture for the end of this blog.  The smiles and happiness that glow from these faces and the faces of our grandchildren on this blog say it all.