Here is our Christmas tree. The kids loved decorating it. They were very sad when we took it down a few weeks ago.
We started Christmas day with some breakfast. Here is Ella and Caroline starting their day.
Per tradition, Grammie and Poppa bought everyone pajamas. The girl cousins got matching pajamas and the boys got matching pajamas.
The box Ella is holding is for a scavenger hunt. Last year, the Baker kids went on a scavenger hunt and were rewarded with a trip to Disneyland. They LOVED the hunt (and the trip to Disney). I think a scavenger hunt has become a tradition.
This year, our kids were old enough to participate and they were ecstatic to be involved. Just look how happy Caroline is to be running around with her cousins.
They found another clue!
After several clues, they found this box containing three boxes--one for Amy and I, one for Michael and Amy, and one for the Baker kids.
Our box and Michael and Amy's box contained Kindle Fires. We love ours! The Baker kids got an iPod touch. They immediately installed some games. I thought it was hilarious when Will asked his dad for his Apple password so Will wouldn't need to bother Michael whenever he wanted to purchase games. :)Here we are opening presents. Caroline and Caden enjoyed cleaning up the wrapping paper just as much as they did opening the presents. You can see Caroline throwing some away in the back of this picture.
Here is Caroline opening an Aqua Doodle. The twins have had a lot of fun drawing with the Aqua Doodle. Amy and I love it since it is a craft they can do themselves where the only mess is a little bit of spilled water.
The twins hanging out in a blue lazy boy chair.
The picture above reminded me of this picture from five years ago. Weren't Ella and Will cute? (And they still are.)
Well, back to 2011.The Baker 5 bought the twins a really cool (and extremely large) roller coaster. Here is Michael showing Caden how to ride down for the first time.
You can see Caden did not like the coaster at all!
Now it was Caroline's turn. Caroline never shows the same excitement as Caden but she definitely liked riding down the coaster.
Even Ella enjoyed the coaster.
The twins have ridden the roller coaster more times than I can count and they are able to completely do it themselves. We made the rule that whoever rides down the coaster must also push the cart back up. That little rule has prevented many fights already.One day, Ella, the twins, and I went outside to play. Ella is great with the twins. She is awesome at playing with them on their level. Here are some pics of the three of them going crazy in the backyard. They raced around, played in the leaves, ran in circles, and enjoyed being silly. It was a lot of fun to watch.
Cal has gotten into karate. (I think he took one class.) Here is Cal showing off his moves to Poppa. I think Poppa looks very impressed.
One thing the Baker kids really wanted to do was spend the night at our house. They got their chance on New Years Eve. That night, Caden and Caroline went into Amy and my room to watch an episode of Curious of George before bed. The Baker kids decided to climb in our bed and join them and of course, I took a picture.
We had a lot of fun with all the kids that night. Everyone was very pleasant and slept well. Amy and I enjoyed talking with the Baker kids. They are very funny.We had a great Christmas. For several weeks follow Christmas, the twins kept saying we needed to "celebrate Jesus' birthday" and "when is Jesus' birthday?" They can't wait until Christmas 2012.
