A Bunch...

So, like the dummy I can be at times, I forgot to bring my camera to TWO Christmases -- my mother-in-law's and my own parents'. So, although we had a great time at both, I have no photos. I have no evidence to show the crazy fun of discovering Telestrations at Phil and Crystal's house, I have no record of Jacob skating with his Uncle Ben (or Greg almost wiping out during his first skating session in about 15 years), I have no photos of the boys being spoiled rotten by George Bob and Papa, and I have no images of Anne trying to kill the Food Network critics on Cook or Be Cooked for Wii.

No proof, but we did have a fabulous time. :)

We got home on Christmas in the evening for our first Christmas with just the four of us. Time to build our own little family traditions, right? Jacob's been asking for the dumplings from Kung Fu Panda since he saw the movie, so I thought that would be something special. I researched "kung fu panda dumplings" and came up with tons of Chinese dumpling recipes. They all looked like pot stickers. I finally found a comment on one recipe saying that the Kung Fu Panda dumplings actually looked like bao zi. I planned some tasty-sounding fillings and made them on Christmas Eve day to resteam once we got home.

And....

They were gross. Jacob said they weren't the Kung Fu Panda ones. Mine turned out like round disks. The Kung Fu Panda dumplings are round balls. And mine tasted gross.

So strike 1 for little Stone family Christmas traditions.

I made hot chocolate on the stove, and that was super tasty! We enjoyed that quite a bit. (One point)

We thought it would be cool to sleep in the family room each Christmas night, watching movies until everyone fell asleep. The kids enjoyed it, but the adults? We discovered that we are way too old to sleep on the floor. (Strike 2)

The kids enjoyed all of the time spent together, and we had fun watching movies like "Stuart Little 2" and "Up."

So 2 strikes, but several very nice, good things. We'll tweak it a little next year... new recipes and maybe an air mattress for mom and dad. :)
Benjamin opening a present Santa left at our house.

Jacob opening Power Rangers from Santa.

Benjamin knew what to do. He pulled lever and the toy made a loud, "Mooooo!" noise. Benjamin loudly responded, "Coooooowwwwwwww!"

A cool truck/tractor-thingy from Santa.

A Power Ranger cell phone from Santa.

Sleeping bags from Mom and Dad.

Books from Aunt Sarah.

Mmmm... hot chocolate and marshmallows!

The boys making a toast with hot chocolate. Jacob held his cup out to Benjamin and said, "Cheers!"

Benjamin doesn't quite "get" toasting yet.

Wearing a super cute outfit from Great Aunt Karen and Great Uncle John.

And a super cute outfit from George Bob and Papa.

And the wrapping paper frenzy at Grandpa S. and Mimi's house.

Showing off his new snow boots while working with his tools.

Sledding at Uncle Daniel and Aunt Heidi's house.

Benjamin wasn't sure about it and thought his cousins inside had a better deal.

Screaming, "NO!!!" at me as I tried to take a picture. He was mad at me for the rest of the night.

Benjamin thinks the Rock Band drums are his.

The weird thing is that he ends up hitting the sticks to the beat pretty often.

He can't quite do the pedal, which makes him mad.