Christmas at the Franklins

Grandpa and Grandma Franklin's house is always full of action! With six aunts and uncles (and spouses) and twenty cousins the kids always have a great time!

Mom let Dad be in charge of the camera and he only took a handful of pictures - I guess he feels funny because nobody else takes pictures. Next time, Mom will be in charge.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Santa has arrived!

And so have those darn reindeer. They ate our carrots and pooped on our deck!

A scooter - Santa listened!

Just like Daddy!

Bailey wouldn't even finish opening one present and she was ripping the paper of the next.

Daddy's helpers.

Mom's favorite present- an ornament RyAnne made her :-)!

Showing off her new pjs Dakota got her for Christmas. Of course, Bailey and Dakota had to get in on the picture too!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

COOKIES AND MILK FOR SANTA

NOTE TO SANTA

AND AFTER READING THE TRADITIONAL BOOK 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS' THE CHILDREN WERE ALL NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS.

Christmas Eve Night

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma Carter's house.

All dressed up and excited to open presents!

Yep, they all got zhu zhu pets. Grandma Carter is the master shopper and found "Pipsqueak", "Squiggles", and "Chunk" and accessories well before Christmas.

Yippee! A new bike!

Dakota and Bailey had the most fun opening the presents. Needless to say, Dad, Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma didn't stand a chance opening their own presents with those two around!

Gingerbread House

Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Carol gave the kids a gingerbread house to decorate. RyAnne and her neighbor friend had fun decorating it. Bailey and Dakota had fun eating the candy -yum!

Looks good enough to eat!

Christmas Concert

RyAnne had a school Christmas concert before winter break. Dad, Mom, and Grandpa and Grandma Carter enjoyed hearing the kindergartners sing The Pinata, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and My Red Sled.

She sang (and danced) her little heart out - we were all very proud!

RyAnne is one of the smallest of all the kids in her grade (which, by the way, she hates) and was right in the middle in front.

RyAnne's Dance

Parents were invited to watch dance class this week. All the girls did such a great job and were so excited (and a little nervous) to have an audience. Dad and Mom enjoyed seeing all the new moves RyAnne has learned.

Ballet

Tap

Snack Day Snowmen

We made donut snowmen for RyAnne's snack day at school. They turned out cute but were awfully messy to eat. The blue gel eyes gave the kids long lasting blue fingers, lips, and tongue - just ask tester Dakota (who also had blue ALL over his pajamas) ! I am sure her teacher was thrilled!

A Visit from Santa!

Santa always stops at Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Carol's house before Christmas. Above is a picture of all the nieces and nephews anxiously awaiting his arrival! Really, the adults were doing whatever they could to stop them all from looking out the windows for Santa. You know how nervous the reindeer get landing the sleigh with a bunch of kids watching;-)!

All of a sudden we heard "HO HO HO!"...... Santa had arrived! Dakota and Bailey couldn't believe their eyes!

After all that work of preparing Dakota and Bailey for the visit they were still a little timid around Santa. Dakota was mesmerized - he couldn't believe it-Santa! Both Dakota and Bailey had to always have Mom, Dad, Grandpa, or Grandma near.

RyAnne was a pro! She talked his ear off! I think this is when she said, "Um, excuse me Santa, I would like a scooter for Christmas!"

Things got better for Dakota and Bailey when they found out Santa brought them gifts!

The entire family (including Grandpa and Grandma Carter) with Santa!

Santa had to go.....it was hard for the reindeer to see without Rudolph since it was the night of the blizzard that dropped 17 inches of snow on us! Luckily, the next day Dad and RyAnne's schools were cancelled because it was an exciting and late night for all. Here is a picture of RyAnne giving Santa a good-bye hug - see you on Christmas Eve!

First Snowfall!

We had fun shoveling and playing in the first snowfall of 2009. Bailey enjoyed throwing (and eating - YUCK) the snow and Dakota liked to shovel.

Here is a picture of Bailey working hard....

....and Dakota hardly working. For awhile, when Mom wasn't paying attention, he was piling snow IN the garage. Then he was taking the snow Mom already shoveled and putting it back on the driveway! He just doesn't quite understand the process yet.

And we had to stick out our tongues and try to catch some snowflakes, too!

Yum Yum Cookies

We have been busy making cookies! Here is a picture of Zachary and RyAnne decorating the sugar cookies!

Of course, it is also important to test the cookies to make sure they taste okay for others to eat :-)!