Merry Christmas and Happy 7 Months Sam!

We hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas Day! It was a beautiful day here - bright sun and blue skies. We had a lazy start to the day thanks to some genetic predisposition we all have to sleeping in. Then we helped Casey open gifts from church friends and Grandpa. He enjoyed this very much and when we were finished asked if we could do it again. He and Sam both got some nice toys and Thomas gear. Then it was time for the first annual Christmas Monkey Pile.

We laughed at the idea of this being annual - how eventually I will have to bump up as the boys get taller than me, and then when they bring girlfriends home how they will warn them "My parents might make you get in the monkey pile picture". That might be reason enough to quit now! Casey and I played outside for awhile which was great and mostly involved making "casey butt prints" all over the yard as I would swing him and then drop him into the snow. It was so quiet! No cars on our usually busy street, it was actually a little eerie. After lunch we enjoyed a family nap - awesome! Then Jeff took Casey to his first movie theater movie "Desparo" which despite its G rating was a bit dark and intense according to Jeff. But Casey had a good time!
Sam is 7 months old today and is growing up so fast!

He has his first tooth - it broke through Tuesday night. There are a few more coming too which is why he is gnawing on my shoulder a lot. He is also starting to drink a bit from a sippy cup.
Yesterday, Sam was the baby Jesus (albeit a 21 pound version) at the children's Christmas Eve service. He was great!

Totally alert and smiley and content to sit on my (Mary's) lap and take it all in. Jeff (Joseph, or "Jofis" as Casey says) kept Casey (the angel - wings and all) close to him for obvious reasons. But he had to do a few pastoral pieces in the service and those moments left the angel to his own devices. During one of these times, Casey starting rearranging the stuffed sheep on the stage. They were scattered about, and he thought they might want to be together. He's sweet like that :) Overall the whole holy family thing went quite well.

Christmas Eve is a busy day around here, but a good day none the less. It makes us grateful for a slow Christmas Day. Some family is coming in tomorrow for the weekend and then before we know it, it will be 2009. Can you imagine?