Christmas Morning

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Santa visited the Anderson home this year! After a late night of celebration with family, Aaron and Helena woke up late, by their standards, to rush down and see what Santa left for them.

Santa was here!

Natalie was up early and we had a nice breakfast together before Aaron and Helena woke up

Helena slowly descends to see if Santa was here

Aaron tries to wait patiently for Helena to get out of bed

Helena checks out her new dollhouse

Aaron was so excited to see his new train table

Natalie loved her new crocodile walking toy!

Aaron and Helena pose with their stockings

Aaron burned his hand a week before Christmas but he didn't have too much trouble opening his gifts.

Christmas Eve with Family

This year, we celebrated the holiday with a traditional Swedish Smorgasbord, followed by gifts and desert. This is the first year Aaron and Helena remember last year's celebrations and they were both so excited for all of the fun to begin. All of the kids were patient through dinner and we ended up opening gifts in shifts this year. First round, the three young children followed by the second round, the two older children and last, the adults!

Aaron and Helena pose in front of the tree

Helena squeezes into a spot among all of the gifts

Mommy and Helena opening gifts

Aaron and Helena hold up their Pillow Pets, one of their favorite gifts

Aaron opens up an RC that he got from Farmor and Farfar, this was a favorite gift of Aarons

Cousins: Callaway and Helena

Casey and Maya

Scott and Stacie

Christmas Pageant

Aaron and Helena starred in their first Holiday Pageant at church on Christmas Eve. Helena was an angel and Aaron was a Shepherd. They took their parts very seriously and did a fantastic job on Christmas Eve. It was so nice to see them dressed up and celebrating the birth of Baby Jesus.

Our little Angel, Helena

Aaron poses with Alex and Frankie (the older Shepherd who was SO good with the younger kids)

Aaron awaits his entrance

Helena sees the older girls singing in the choir and decides to join in

Daddy and Natalie ready to watch the Pageant

The North Pole Express

We were lucky enough to get tickets to The North Pole Express this year. Aaron loves trains and with the kids so excited about Christmas and Santa Claus, we were happy to be going. Aunt Kristie, Maya and Callaway came along too, and even though it was a late night, we had a fantastic time!

Maya, Callaway, Aaron and Helena pose outside the train

Helena and Daddy wait for our train to pull up

Aaron and Daddy make silly faces

Helena anxiously waits for the ride to begin

Callaway flashes a handsome smile

Hot Cocoa and cookies made by Mrs. Claus

Chocolate Mustache

All of the children received a special gift from Santa, a bell!

A visit from Mrs. Claus

Maya and Aaron

Santa stopped by too!

Gingerbread Houses

We decided to make Gingerbread Houses with all of the cousins this year. It was so much fun, the kids enjoyed spreading on the frosting and choosing their favorite candies. Aaron's favorite motto as he was making his selections, "One for me, one for my house."

Callaway intently works on his creation

Auntie Jill and Natalie observe from the side

Julian carefully places his licorice

Marshall joins in the fun

Maya carefully frosts her house

Helena samples the decorations

Lexi, Helena and Ainsley

Finshed products: Helena, Ainsleyy, Lexi, Aaron, Callaway, Maya and Julian

Little Cruiser

At ten and a half months, Natalie is quite the mover. She can move very quickly and is pulling up and taking steps, as long as she is holding on to furniture. Natalie loves to be near other children, she loves watching them play and likes to be right in the middle of all of the fun!

Here comes trouble...

"Look at me, Mom!"

Natalie plays with her new Nativity set

Tree Lighting

Thanksgiving weekend, we all bundled up and went to Niantic to watch the tree lighting. This is the second year we have gone and this year we participated in the snowball drop. Thanks to Uncle Adam we even caught a "snowball" and were treated to chocolate lollipops at the local candy shop. Aaron especially enjoyed watching Santa and Mrs. Claus ride in on the big firetruck.

Aaron and Helena stand in front of the tree

We ended up running into Aunt Kristie, Uncle Adam, Maya and Callaway