Guess Who Was Good This Year?

First let me start by saying, the "Christmas Spirit" has been alive in the Holden House throughout 2011.  It has been amazing to watch Carter grow over the past 12 months into a wonderful child with a personality all his own.  Mom and Dad have been so grateful for the gift of being parents and we couldn't imagine out live being without little man.  Then you add Parker and all three Holden's got the best early Christmas gift ever!  

We get to celebrate all that we have been given every day when we look into those two little boys' eyes.  Life is so much more enjoyable when experienced through a child and Christmas is no exception!  With that being said, we were so excited to spend Christmas this year with our new family.  And experience the joy of the holiday through the eyes of our children.  Luckily for us Carter and Parker made Santa's good list this year so there was lots of fun in store for us on Christmas day.

Carter was a bit confused as to why mom had out the video camera when he got up...

Needless to say he quickly realized today was different from a normal Sunday!  After a few trips down the roller coaster...

We started the morning with a yummy Christmas breakfast sent over from Grandmommy.  Carter is still working on his manners.  He doesn't understand why it isn't appropriate to put your feet on the table ;)

After breakfast, it was time to see what Santa brought Carter.  Carter could tell he had a big day ahead so he grabbed some raisin bread for stamina.  We started by checking out Carter's stocking.

He had fun pulling out all his goodies including crayons, snack bowls, books and some snacks.

Madie and Brie had fun checking out all the new stuff.

Then it was on to the presents....

Carter was much better at unwrapping this year.  At times, he seemed more interested in the unwrapping than the gifts.  Notice the concentration!

Here is a video of Carter and dad in action.

He even unwrapped a few things himself.

After all the unwrapping it was time to check out the loot!  This part definitely required dad's assistance.  It's amazing how complicated the packaging on kids toys is!

Carter had a blast playing with his toys.  He loved his new sports equipment (they come with balls), anything with Elmo, books and well just about everything else Santa brought him!

Carter even loved playing with the gift wrap... again.  Where is Carter?

We spent the rest of the morning playing with Carter's new toys before it was nap time.

Needless to say, Carter went down hard which gave mom and dad some time to clean up and see what else Santa brought.  Dad's favorite item... shares of the Green Bay Packers.  One for each Holden man!

What a wonderful Christmas morning.  We can't wait to see spend the rest of the day with the rest of our family!