Christmas 2009

as i mentioned before, Bryan got a zoom lens for Christmas (an EF Canon 75-300mm Jen!) and this picture of Bryson was the first one he took with it. We so need to give that boy a haircut. i keep replaying the scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie shows up to the house blind because they made him swallow the soap, only its Bryson blind because i didnt cut his hair when he was 4 and it disrupted his vision and i am in the corner sobbing saying, "i just couldn't handle it when he cuts his hair - he grows up too fast!" dramatic much?

anyway....our Christmas was amazing. I already told a little about Christmas Eve morning. We then went to my Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Darrol's house for Christmas Eve and met up with my dad's side of the family. I believe she said there were 34 of us. it was a very familiar time. We grew up next door to them from the time i was 3 until i left the house at 18 - and every Christmas morning we would always run over to their house (before they opened presents) and so excited for them to open them too and Stephanie and Darrol would very nicely ask us to come back after they were done and then we would eat sugar and play with new toys together and eat more sugar and then pass out somewhere along the way since we generally woke up at 5am...but i digress...the night was lovely...i wish i would have brought a pack n play for poor Bodie though...he was a little over it all. Bryson had a blast with his cousins and second cousins - him and my cousin Danny's daughter Grey played so cute...they were even wrestling...she is a tough cookie that girl! i was seriously impressed...not too many girls hold their own with Bryson and she gave him a run! Santa came that night too - they wanted Bryan to play Santa...but he wont...he is scared he will freak out the kids...one year i found a black santa costume at target and offered to buy it for him to make him feel more comfortable and he looked at me like i had a tree growing out of my head so i dropped the subject. But we were lucky that our cousin Henrik from Sweden was in town and a good sport (plus we told him that this was customary for the guest to be Santa and if he didnt do it he would ruin all the kids' Christmas) so he played along. on another awful Johnson humor note - Danny told my nephew Buddy that he had to bow to Henrik every time he saw him because it was their custom...i only saw him do it once, but seriously poor Henrik!

we also had amazing food, a gift exchange and very special times catching up with very special people we dont see nearly as often as we would like!

Christmas morning was so special. In fact - it was definitely without a doubt my favorite Christmas morning so far in my life. It was the first time that we had Christmas morning alone since we have been married. And now with our children! it was so special. Bryson was soooo excited and woke me up and told me that Santa had come! we made sure to make coffee first and grabbed the video camera and went to town! Bodie really could have cared less...but did seem to show interest in all of Bryson's things (PS - that pic of Bodie on the bike is an example of this - this was Bryson's "like-a-bike" that Bodie was enthralled with)...we are now entering the sibling rivalry territory...it has been calm so far...and that is about to end...i am certain of this...anyway - a very relaxing morning and very special to start our own traditions as a family. it was the first time i actually felt like a family...isnt that odd? i mean of course i feel like a family, but rarely do i sit back and marvel at our selves as a family unit like i did that morning.

after breakfast we packed up and headed down to Murrieta to my dad's. we ran about 10 miles with Jake and Mandie and then had a wonderful enchilada/tamale dinner, MORE presents and more lovely family time. I made Buddy and Hope their own zoodies...Buddy was a little stoked on his!