The Careys

Monday, December 28, 2009

Lawson Christmas 2009

This is the first year we were able to celebrate Christmas at my Mom's new place. She is so happy in this new house, which makes ME happy!

Here are pictures of our celebration.

Shane, Sherry, Jordan and Daymian

Sisters: Sherry and Shelly

The grandkids: Ginger, Shelly, Grammy, Sherry and Jamin (looks like Ava snuck in this picture, too)

Our attempt at a family picture. As you can see, the kids were a little wiggly... :)

Attempt #2 at family picture

Daddy and Liam

Doug and Shelly

Mom, Grandmother and Uncle Danny

The Lawson crew: Ginger, Uncle Danny, Aunt Linda and Jamin

Our gift to Jordan was a Scrabble game. He seemed happy with it!

The tree

Ginger and Ava

Mom opening her toolbox. Now that she's a homeowner, we thought she could use some good tools. Doug visited a local hardware store when they were going out of business and picked up some really good tools for great prices.

Daymian with a Christmas bow on his head. I'm not sure how long it was there until he figured out he had something on his head. ;-0

She is smitten. Can you tell?

Doug talking to Daymian about guitar chords.

Ava in her "twirly dress"

We had a great time celebrating with everyone this year!

Peace, love and togetherness,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Griffith Christmas 2009

We had a great time with the Griffith crew this past Christmas. Ava enjoyed her tickle-time with Grandpa Dean, and Liam enjoyed hanging out with Grandma Dolly. Wow, looking at this picture, I think it is probably one of the last we have with Liam using a pacifier.

I tried my hand at Wii for the first time. I think I'm addicted to the Cabela hunting games... Here I am in some sort of driving game, being interrupted, as you can tell. :-)

Even Ava enjoyed the hunting games. Here she is, shooting at some birds. :-)

Doug and I drove up to see Aunt Freda on a weekday for lunch. Jordan and Daymian went with us, as they were out of school on Winter break. We met at the Farmhouse (I think it's called?) in Lapeer. It was great to catch up with and see Aunt Freda. And it's always good to spend Uncle and Aunt time with the boys. They're growing up so fast. Daymian is already taller than I am! It's hard to believe that Rebecca (my "littlest" cousin) will be graduating from high school this year, too!

Ava really seems to enjoy her snuggle / tickle time with Grandpa Dean. Whenever it's time to relax and watch a movie, she just seems to automatically sit next to him. :-)

Mrs. Claus (I mean Dolly!) in her festive apron.

Liam cheesing for the camera and doing some serious building...

The Larabee clan all snuggled in for a long Winter's nap

Kristin and a happy Sophia

Peace, love and family time,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Carey Christmas 2009

Christmas was so fun this year! Ava is at such a magical age, where Santa hangs the moon, snow glistens and Christmas is the best day of the year. I had fun watching her have fun this Christmas!

We opened gifts with the Carey clan on Christmas Eve. We had dinner with Tim, Tracy, Jim and Mary. It was super yummy. Tracy and Tim opened gifts with us before heading to Tim's Dad's house later in the evening. Tracy, Tim, Doug and I all went in together to get Michael Buble tickets for Jim and Mary for a March 2010 show. Jim and Mary seemed excited about the tickets. Jim handmade a very intricate keepsake box for me, telling me that he wants it to be handed down to Ava. He told me I was very special and wanted me to have the box. Of course I cried when he was telling me all of this. :-) It is a beautiful box. I will try to take a picture of it later and add it to the blog. (This year, I think we only took video of our gift-opening). Tracy and Tim gave us a cool game called "Chit Chat". It's a box of questions that are conversation-starters, to break-out when we have company. It's pretty cool!

Ava didn't really seem to be into opening gifts on Christmas Eve (as much as I thought she would). Within the hour, I felt her forehead... she was BURNING UP! She had a pretty high fever which disappeared Christmas morning. Poor thing, she felt pretty bad and it showed. :( Luckily it wasn't a long-lasting bug...

Here are some pictures of our time with the Careys, and other Christmas goodies.

Mary ordered these cookies from Shannon (Sirard). She always does an amazing job with these cookies. They were too pretty to eat!

Dressed in their matching pajamas for the night. Ava looks thrilled about this concept. ;-) (Actually, she was sick at the time...)

Ava and Liam in matching Christmas jammies.

Christmas morning Santa stash!

Ava and Liam opening their stockings

Liam loves bears. Here he has taken the bear from the foyer area and brought it into the kitchen. He likes to sit and look at their faces while he just laughs...

Peace, love and stocking stuffers,

SC, Doug, Ava and Liam

Monday, December 21, 2009

Visiting Santa 2009

This year we visited Santa at The Village in Rochester.

I was curious to see how Ava's visit (specifically) with Santa would go... When we went to the kids' day care for their holiday party a week earlier, Liam's teacher (Miss Kelly) dressed up like Santa. Let's just say that Kelly is a shorter, African-American woman in her late 20's, with contemporarily-framed glasses and has quite the feminine "Ho, Ho, Ho". So when I mentioned to Ava that it was really nice that Santa (at day care) gave her a Barbie for Christmas, she said, "Mom, you're silly... that was one of my teachers pretending to be Santa..." Nothing gets by this girl!

After our visit with "Day Care" Santa, I wanted to be sure to get pictures taken with Santa. The Village offers FREE pictures with Santa. After a lunch out with Grandma and Grandpa Carey, we went to The Village on Christmas Eve's Eve.

At the Village, there is an enclosed gazebo that was actually warm and quite peaceful. So, it wasn't a madhouse and some terrifying experience for a kid. I think it helped Ava buy into his "Santa-ness"; she bought it hook, line and sinker! It was so sweet to see. And truthfully, I was kind of hoping Liam would have the "screaming visit with Santa" picture this year, as it seems a rite of passage for every little one. Instead, always taking his lead from Ava, he was cool, calm and collected when visiting with the big guy.

This Santa was the best! When we walked in, he asked Ava's name and held out his hand for her to come to him. He said "Hi Ava!" and Ava walked up to sit in his lap. When we've asked what Ava wished for from Santa this year, she has repeatedly said "I will be happy with whatever Santa brings me." (What parent doesn't like THAT answer? - And this was not a canned response... I kept fishing and that is ALL she would tell me). So I was a little surprised when Santa asked Ava what she wanted, and she shyly responded "A dolly". :-) Fortunately Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly (fittingly!) came through with a dolly for Ava for Christmas. Her wish list was complete.

Ava was beaming as she sat on his lap, soaking it all in. Liam then joined her and seemed to do really well. No threat of tears from Liam this year. :-) Santa's helper gave each of the kids a coloring book, a reindeer antler headpiece and a candy cane. The candy cane was a big hit, and it was a pretty quiet ride home because of them. :-)

Ready to visit Santa