I warned you!

Well, I warned you all that a big Christmas post was coming, and amazingly enough I've finished it before Valentine's Day!

Christmas morning dawned bright and early, and we were even able to wake Hayley up in time to come downstairs with us. Usually it takes a little more effort to get her going, though from her expression in this photo, I wouldn't say she was completely awake.

When the kids finally were allowed to come downstairs and see what Santa had delivered, they were blown away.
A cat! A real cat!
Well, not a real cat, a Fur-real cat. My favorite kind of cat, actually. No claws, no shedding, no staring at a spot on the wall for long periods of time until you're totally freaked out and think the house is haunted. It's my kind of cat. (Can you tell I'm more of a dog person??)

And of course, shoes. Two new pairs, actually!

Here Nora tries out a sweet new drum she found on the floor.

Can you tell who it actually belongs to?

Shane made this awesome kitchen for Kalen at Tara's request. Nora enjoyed showing Wylie how to do some cooking.

Wylie showed Nora the 'downward facing Sylvia Plath'. Very impressive form, Wylie!

Obviously I didn't take many of these pictures, seeing as I'm in quite a few of them. Aunt Debbie was the photographer, thank goodness. I was much too busy hoarding my gifts and hoping to draw out Christmas until the new year. She caught a great shot of Shane opening his gift from me. I wasn't sure he would be that excited about it. Luckily I was wrong.

I bought him this print along with a gift certificate to get it matted and framed. If you're a Cosby show fan, you might recognize it as the painting hanging in their living room.

Nora also received a sweet keyboard. She's been rocking out quite a bit since Christmas. Drums next year?

Here I was showing Tara the necklace Mom and Dad had bought for me. Very fancy!

This was what the living room looked like for about four hours on Christmas morning. It was chaos, mostly controlled, and absolutely wonderful. I loved it.

As the tradition goes, Shane wrote me a scavenger hunt to find my present from him. Usually I search for it on Christmas Eve, but this year I convinced him to let me do it on Christmas Day, where I would have time and daylight on my side. I had just found one of the many clues hidden outside in this next picture. Unfortunately, this was not the farthest clue. I had to get in the car and drive for one, but it was better than last year, when I had to go and visit a friend down the road to get one of my clues!

My new snowshoes and poles are absolutely worth it, though. Thank you, Shane!

There you have it! Our Christmas in a nutshell.It was a wonderful few days spent with family, and though I'm always a bit let down when the season ends, I know it will be back again, sooner than I expect!