Christmas Came Early This Year!

We had Christmas in our home this morning. Christmas came early this year!!!! My parents, Edward & India, shipped their presents since we aren't going to North Carolina this year. My brother, Chris, bought his Christmas presents while he was visiting us.

So, we decided to open presents a few days early so we could enjoy them before we spend Christmas with Dustin's family.

We began our gift giving by going through the stocking stuffers my parents sent us.

Let the fun & sugar rush begin!!!

Josiah had such a good time opening presents. We began by opening presents from Chris. Josiah really liked the Toy Story 'Bucket O Soldiers' Chris got him.

Probably his favorite present from Chris was the Diego Digital Camera. This is Josiah's first camera. It is a real digital camera. He was so excited that he finally had one.

Dustin enjoyed opening presents, too. We'll be watching a lot of TV shows & movies soon.

The present we wanted & most needed was a new digital camera. Dad & Mom gave us an AWESOME one!

Dad & Mom gave Dustin the air compressor he wanted.

I received the FINAL pieces of our china collection. YAY!!! We were lacking 8 cups & 8 saucers to go with our formal china.

Josiah was pumped. He received a Bop It! Dustin & I both have a Bop It that is really hard & sophisticated. So, Josiah wanted one that he could actually play.

Then, for the big finale. Granddaddy & Grandma gave Josiah a Power Wheels Kawasaki Ride-On.

Boy oh boy...Josiah was thrilled!!!

He drove all over our yard.

Here are the presents Josiah received from Uncle Chris! Wow...he's spoiled.

Here are the presents Josiah received from Granddaddy & Grandma!

Granddaddy & Grandma gave him this one, too.

Here's our awesome camera from Dad & Mom!

Here are my presents from Chris. The gift card is to my favorite spa for a signature manicure & pedicure. Ooh la la.

These are my presents from Dad & Mom!

These are Dustin's presents from Chris!

These are Dustin's presents from Dad & Mom!

It was so much fun to open presents together, laugh & know how much we mean to my family. They put so much thought & effort into our presents, as they always do. We love you all so much & thank you for making this such a fun & special Christmas.

What a fun day...Christmas came early this year!!!

A Preschool Christmas Pajama Party!

Today was Josiah's last day of Preschool before Christmas break. Teacher Nicky's class celebrated by having a Pajama Party. Josiah has been excited about this all week.

He wanted to go to preschool in Lightning McQueen pajamas (surprise, surprise).

He even has matching Lightning McQueen slippers.

Each child was also told to bring a soft toy to Preschool. Chris gave Josiah 2 soft toys from the movie, "Cars" for his birthday. Josiah had to bring these cars to school.

Here is Josiah with Teacher Nicky. He loves her so much!

Even Teacher Nicky & Teacher Julea wore their pajamas to the party.

The children came in & checked out each other's pajamas. Then, they went straight to playing.

The atmosphere was so fun! The kids were having a blast!

Later in the morning the children made shaving cream snowmen.

Well, the snowmen never really got made. They just had fun playing in the shaving cream.

What a mess!

At the end of the day, it was Christmas movie time with popcorn & drink.

As you might have guessed, Josiah & Bella sat together for the movie. They are such a pair. They both were even wearing Lightning McQueen pajamas.

Once the movie was over, they played a musical game around the carpet.

They had so much fun in their PJs. I wish I had wore mine, too.

At the end of the pajama party, Josiah gave us a Christmas present he had made at school. He had decorated a bag, made a card & put handprints on the angel as wings & decorated a Christmas ornament for us.

Josiah was so proud of his ornament. We hung it on the front of the tree & he was very excited about it.

What a great way to end a Preschool Christmas Pajama Party!

A Fun Sunday!

Today was a fun Sunday! Josiah received even MORE presents today at church for his birthday.

Tad & Nikki gave Josiah a Playmobile pirate set.

Jon & Tracey gave Josiah a race track & 3 Hot Wheel cars.

How thoughtful these 2 couples were to think of our son on his birthday. He was so excited with his new toys. Thanks, guys!

After church was over, we decided to take Chris to Pike's Place Public Market. You can't come to Seattle & not go to the market.

Here's Chris standing in front of the famous Public Market sign.

Chris & Josiah just love each other so much & are always playing or goofing around. Here they are being silly again!

MONTHS ago, Josiah told us, out of the blue, that he wanted to try canoli. I think he must have seen it on a Curious George video & just needed to try it. He mentioned it to Chris while we were in North Carolina in August. I have looked EVERYWHERE in my town for canoli & NO ONE sells it. Well, we got to the market & Chris knew we'd be able to find it there. He was right.

Here is Josiah's very first bite of a chocolate chip cream cheese canoli. Yummm-o. It was good!

Here are the guys hanging out at the market while Josiah eats the ENTIRE canoli all by himself. We each tried a little bite, but he ate the rest without any assistance. He REALLY liked it.

Josiah just loves his Uncle Chris. He wanted Chris to carry him the whole night. Josiah doesn't like to be carried anymore, by anyone. For some reason he just wanted to be right in Chris' arms. I think it's pretty sweet.

We had such a fun Sunday together as a family. Chris leaves Seattle tomorrow & he will be greatly missed.

Chris, we love you & are so honored that you came to visit us. You are the best brother in the world & we love you very much! We hope your trip ended well with a fun Sunday!

Celebration in Seattle!

After the birthday party & a much needed nap, we decided to celebrate both Josiah's birthday & Chris' visit by going to the Seattle Center.

It was a GORGEOUS evening & the Space Needle was beautiful all lit up with a Christmas tree on top.

Here are Chris, Josiah & myself standing in front of the Space Needle.

The Seattle Center is currently having Winterfest & the carousel is outside by the ice skating rink. We all hopped on & went for a ride.

I rode in the sleigh so I could get some great pictures of the guys riding.

We all had a great time, as you can tell.

We then went inside the Center House at the Seattle Center & enjoyed the huge snow village.

This snow village was so cute & had amazing detail.

Josiah really enjoyed watching the trains go by.

We watched the trains & looked at each part of the village for a while. It was a lot of fun!

Once our bodies had warmed up inside the Center House, we went back outside for some fun at Fun Forest. Josiah loves this small amusement park.

His favorite ride is the Snow Convoy. He likes to pretend he is driving the cars.

He always has a blast on the Froggie ride.

Then, he wanted to ride Puff the Magic Dragon.

The HUGE slide is always a favorite. This time he decided to go down on his belly. Cute!

Then, we discovered that Josiah is finally tall enough to ride the roller coaster. What an exciting moment. Josiah's very 1st roller coaster.

He enjoyed it so much that he had to ride it twice. Once with each parent! Already an adrenaline junky.

We ended our fun visit by buying some Seattle Fudge. Mmmm. Josiah waited for us to place our order by riding the slug.

What a great way to enjoy Josiah's birthday & Chris' visit...by having a celebration in Seattle!