Evan really understood the holiday season this year. He wanted to participate in everything we did around Christmas and was a great helper. He was very inquisitive about Santa and the North Pole - where is the North Pole? Why can't I go there? How does Patches O' Houlihan (aka Elf on the Shelf) get there? How does Santa get all the presents here? How does Santa fit down the chimney? The list could go on and on....For all the excitement Evan had around Santa and Christmas, he still was not totally into the Santa visits. He said "hi" to Santa but would not sit on his lap.
To Tyler, Christmas was just another day of milk, naps & diaper changes. And watching Evan be crazier than normal with all the excitement of presents, family visits, cookies and snacks.
Cousins!
"Santa, I want milk, diapers, wipes, and my fist to chew on."
Evan wanted to wrap gifts in his underwear. Don't ask me why. I spend a lot of time wondering why he does what he does sometimes! It's what makes Evan, Evan. I see this as a future "year book" picture.
Enjoying hot chocolate after playing outside in our first snow
Just a typical Sunday in our household. Evan running around in mis-matched pajamas wearing a birthday crown and carrying a truck.
Christmas Eve with the Anderson Family
Snuggling with Grandpa
Daddy & his puppy
Cute pic of Uncle David & Evan, but notice the wrapping paper? Justin Bieber!
Tyler & his first gift!
Merry Christmas Grandpa! Lots of gifts!
Evan & his cool new helicopter from Uncle David & Stacy
Evan "helped" EVERYONE open their gifts
Helping Tyler with his presents. He's very focused on the gift.
Smiley baby!
Catching Evan for a picture with all the present-opening was tough!
Daddy got a saw for Christmas. A manly gift. And a dangerous gift. No accidents allowed!!
You know you're getting old when you're excited about pots & pans for Christmas (I say only from experience). But it really is exciting!
Christmas Day
Santa was here!
Tyler is all set for Christmas morning!
Evan helped by handing out gifts to everyone
Santa brought Erik & Evan a remote control helicopter! On it's first flight though, the helicopter hit Evan in the face. And I got it on video. Classic!
Best present :)
Toy overload!
Evan thought the stockings were so exciting. Little gifts hidden just for him!
Christmas Day with the Ellis Family
Cousin love
Some good looking kiddos!
Celebrating our babies first Christmas. I just noticed that their stockings from Grandma are sitting behind us to! A special gift from Grandma Denise.
Too much excitement for Daddy!
Evan loved winding up the snow globes and hearing the music
T made it to the big kid table for dinner!
Uncle Danny & Aunt Katie, their 2nd Christmas as a happy married couple!
Sweet Santa baby!
Helping Grandpa Dan open gifts
Putting more ornaments on the tree at "Evan height". The bottom of Grandma's tree had a lot of low hanging ornaments.
Aunt Katie getting her Tyler snuggles!
Sporting our new Vera Bradley bags
We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year and holidays remind us of THE BIGGEST reason we moved home - FAMILY. Seeing the boys with family makes it all worth it. Merry Christmas!!
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We received a very special gift from Grandpa Anderson for Christmas this year. The letter Grandpa wrote to the boys is below to describe the meaning behind the artwork.
Dear Evan & Tyler,
Grandma & I lived in Madison, Wisconsin while I was in graduate school. I worked at the Environmental Awareness Center, an environmental think tank at the university. Professor Phillip Lewis was the director. He and his wife, Libby, were among the founding partners for Earth Day, the national environmental movement that began in the late 1960's to create a healthier planet.
In 1977, Libby was concerned about the continuing pollution of the four lakes that surrounded Madison, and she asked me to create seasonal posters with environmental messages that would help people understand that they needed to take better care of the lakes. These posters would be posted in city buses. They were successful in helping to motivate the public into getting local government to implement environmental measures to protect and clean the lakes as a treasured national resource.
These four images are the original pen & ink sketches that I created for Libby, one for each season of the year. At the time, the infamous Loch Ness monster in Ireland was making world news - something that happened then and again over the years -- there was a new "sighting" of the monster swimming in Loch Ness -- but somehow the photograph of the monster was blurry, just like all the photos that had been taken before. Anyway, I thought it would be unusual for just one monster to exist. I thought that "Lochy" probably had family living somewhere in the United States, maybe even in Madison. As luck would have it, I was right! Just after I was given the poster assignment, while sitting on the studentsunion terrace overlooking Lake Mendota, the largest of Madison's four lakes, up out of the water and splashing ashore comes Lochy's cousin, the Lake Ness Monster. I think I was there studying, but then again, it might have been because I wanted to partake in a cold beverage or two on a hot summer day. Messy spots me and walks over to my table to strike up a conversation about the recent algae bloom problems in the lake. We talked a bit about what needed to be done, and then "Messy" agreed to model for my posters, but only as long as the winter poster I would make could portray him in hockey gear - he loved playing hockey. The rest is history, and you have the posters to prove it.
Grandpa Anderson, 2013
There are 4 posters and we are currently having the wire on the back fixed, but I will post a picture of all 4 of them when they are up in our office at the house. :)
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