Christmas 2011: Round Two

I shared previously about Christmas 2011: Round One (An Iowaan Christmas).  And so...I will continue with Round Two and so on...until we reach the completions of our 2011 Christmas celebrations.  Then I will move on to 2012.  I know..I am slow.

Anyway, Round Two:  Ben's family.

Those of you with children (especially kids who need naps!) understand that this time of year can get a bit tricky...and exhausting to say the least.  Fortunately, Ben and I were able to convince our families to each take an individual day to celebrate with us.  This way we could actually relax and enjoy our family as opposed to rushing from one house to another to another.  We also (go us!) were able to convince everyone to get together early on in the day so that we didn't end up with a cranky little lady at 7pm.  Thank you family...you have no idea how thankful we are!

Okay, okay... I am moving on!

We kicked off our celebration with a vegan mexican lunch.  Nick's (Ben's bro) on a vegan kick and had a desire to give us the Christmas gift of a healthier diet.  At least for one meal.  I admit, I really couldn't tell that much of a difference between the vegan "ground" and ground beef.  And I loved the guacamole.  I could eat guac all day if you let me.  Mmmmmm.

Charlotte, of course, wasn't entirely interested in eating.  She was more interested in playing, exploring, getting into mischief and entertaining everyone.  The picture below kinda cracks me up.  You can see two uncles holding out books, vying for her attention.  Notice each book is turned to a "doggy."  Why a doggy?  Because it is the only animal sound our little lady will actually do.  "woof, woof, woo, woo!"  And it is about the cutest thing ever.  No joke!  Uncle Chris even got it on video- which he posted to Facebook.  He is computer savvy like that.  Me?  Not so much.

After a (very much) failed attempt at nap time, we surrendered.  Charlotte did her best to prove she didn't need a nap by helping us all open our gifts.  Although she was more interested in talking to the kitty cat (Georgie) and climbing under the coffee table...

Uncle Chris's gift!  It even has his name on the uniform.  Chris is going to be a pilot in the Army National Guard.  So proud of him!

I am pretty sure Patrick is holding Georgie against her will so he can get some Charlotte time.

Here she is under that coffee table.

Maybe she was trying to hide the fact that she was INDEED tired...and kinda in need of a nap...

After gifts, Grandpa and Grandma decided we needed some photos.  Charlotte wasn't a fan of the camera.  She wanted to play.  Check out her face!  Hehehe, oh my girl.  She is a riot!

But Grandma and Grandpa look thrilled!

After the gift opening, some of the guys "played" outside with fire while others watched the TV.  I'm not quite sure what I did...I think I just enjoyed a moment or two of "nothing."

Uncle Chris and Charlotte.  So sweet!

Such guys.  Burning stuff.  Charlotte thought it was pretty cool.