Merry Christmas!

It was so fun watching Owen understand a little about Christmas. He woke up early, but we didn't waste anytime getting him downstairs to see his loot.  The star attractions were an awesome set of Thomas trains I scored on Craigslist, the wagon, and his new riding truck

Thanks Aubrey, Gabe, and Mataya for the awesome gift!  He loves his lunch box, train, and constantly is pointing to his new cow ornament.

We spent the morning playing and eating a big breakfast. We also got to Skype with William's parents and sister in Texas! We saved a few presents so they could watch him open a few gifts.  William and I didn't really exchange much.  It was too fun to watch Owen.  But I did get this super cute necklace with an O and E on it!

Then, we packed up the cars (we drove separately so O and I could stay longer) and got on the road to Peoria. For the first time ever, my mom hosted the Hoerr family Christmas instead of my grandma. It was a super small crowd which was quite strange, but nice and relaxed.  Of course, Owen got lucky and the cows we close in the field behind my parent's house.  He simply adores them.

in our red and green

One of the highlights of Christmas at my grandparents is the box game. My grandma said that last year was the last one. But my grandpa said he couldn't let the tradition die and took over the wrapping. Basically, there are tons of boxes all wrapped with heavy duty tape, paper, and twine. A die is passed in the circle and if you roll a 6, you get a turn to head to the middle, put on a pair of gloves and try to get a box open. There is money in the very last small box. I've never won before, but this year there was a small bill in one of the larger boxes which I found. And then William got through the final box! Hello dinner out. :)

Uncle Nate trying his to break the twine

We spent the remainder of the evening watching Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (don't waste your time) and heading to bed for our busy "Christmas" the next day.