Fun at Grandpa Kovar's

This year we spent about a week staying at Grandpa Kovar's house.  The boys, Andy included, really enjoyed their extra time with Grandpa.  I hope he enjoyed it to... our little family of four can sure make a lot of noise!  (Especially in the middle of the night, as Ephram still is not a sleeper.)

As always, Grandpa was great at reading stories to the boys.

And there was ample opportunity for Charlie to go out and try the new skateboard Santa left for him.

Ephram loved playing with his new toys too, but I think he enjoyed having access to so many "forbidden" things that he usually can't reach in our home.  Of course, this was augmented when he started taking his first steps a few days before Christmas.

Grandpa also had a huge front room that was nearly empty... it was the perfect space for the boys to play.  We took it over... it was great for launching rocket balloons, zooming cars, operating the new ball popper, and numerous other things.

I know that the boys miss seeing their Grandpa every day... it was a nice stay for all of us!

Christmas Afternoon 2010

My Grandma Hayman lives about an hour south of my parents.  It is always a bit of an ordeal to get all of our presents opened, get everyone showered and dressed, and pile into cars to drive down there.  Some years there has been a ton of rain on the way and visibility has been really bad.  It is always worth it though, to see my grandma and the other relatives that are able to come.  This year we were lucky, the weather was great and the drive was easy.  Ephram didn't even freak out very much.  (It's a hilly drive and he always screams from pressure changes.)  Still, we were the last to arrive... having a baby has made everything take a long time.  So when we got there, everyone was ready to open presents already.  There were all the family from that morning, plus my grandma, Uncle Chuck and Aunt Theresa and my cousin Bobbi and her family.

We open youngest to oldest here too, and this time Ephram was awake and ready.  My dad held him and the present... Ephram couldn't wait to tear into it.  It was a VTech train from my grandma, which has become one of his favorite toys!  He also got a ball that he loves to kick, throw and slobber on.

Quinlan was waiting patiently for her turn.  Actually, for a little bit I wondered if she was going to fall asleep.  She didn't have very long to wait though, and then she was wide awake again.

Charlie was looking really tired after the drive down, but he enjoyed opening his presents a lot.  He got a really cool Lego fire truck, a Pinocchio DVD and some Mickey Mouse playing cards.

Evin and Braxton were very interested in the presents everyone received.  I think Evin was plotting how to ask his Uncle Jordan for more Dr. Pepper, and then convince his mom to let him drink it.

 I even got a nice picture of my parents sitting and watching all the activity.

Once we were done opening presents we all visited while the kids played with their new toys.  We also had a nice dinner before we headed back.  This was a great Christmas!

Christmas Morning 2010

Once everyone was awake - adults included - we were ready to open presents.  The Boyce family tradition is to open in order of age, youngest to oldest.  This year Ephram should have been first.  But he wasn't quite ready to do his opening.

Yep, the early wake up and excitement of Santa's presents took all his energy away... he fell asleep about 10 minutes before we started passing out the presents.

Charlie was pretty excited about the stack waiting for him to get his turn.

So we moved onto Dustin.  I am the aunt guilty of giving a noisy present this year... but it was too cute to pass up.

Then we all watched Quinlan - the only girl of the generation there, she got plenty of pretty girl things.

Next was Charlie's turn... he's about three weeks older than Quinlan.  Charlie got lots of Toy Story gifts, which he loved... Toy Story is still his favorite movie.  But his favorite gifts came from his Aunt Liel - she gave him a stuffed Bolt - and us in his new pillow pet.

Charlie curled up with his pillow pet and was ready to watch Braxton open his gifts.  First we watched Braxton being silly with a wrapping paper hat.  Then he opened the Boomerang we'd chosen for him.  Hopefully he has had a chance to learn how to throw it.

Next was Evin's turn.  I think he was the most hyper of all the kids there.  Must have been that Dr. Pepper from Steve Jobs.

During all this excitement Charlie had gotten cozy on a comfy chair with his new friends.  He looked like he was about to nod off himself!

Ephram slept through all of the kids opening.  Then it was time to move onto the adults.  I didn't know how my siblings would feel about me posting pictures of them before they had a chance to get dressed that day... so I left them out of this entry.

Eventually it was Andy's turn.  Andy got a new North Face coat from us and a watch.  He clearly liked these gifts.  But his favorite gift came from Charlie - a Lego man flashlight.  I love this picture.  I think it's the happiest Andy picture I've ever captured.

I got some nice gifts too... but I don't much care for my pictures so I'm skipping them.  :)  After all of the adults were done opening, Ephram was awake and took his turn.  I was glad that we didn't wake him up earlier.  He clearly needed the nap and enjoyed opening his gifts.  He got pretty good at tearing the paper by the end too!

We'd had a great start to our Christmas.  Next it was time to shower, get dressed, and head to my Grandma Hayman's house for more festivities!

Santa Surprises

Everyone was happy when they found the surprises that Santa had left for them!

Ephram was one of the first up... Mostly because Andy and I woke him up when we carted him from Grandpa Kovar's house to Grandpa Boyce's house in the wee hours of the morning.  We'd had a long night of little sleep on a leaky air mattress.  :)  I think his fatigue shows in the pictures... but it didn't thwart his excitement.  At first he looked at us incredulously, like he didn't understand why we were herding him over to a cluster of toys.  Then, when we let him climb on top of his new zebra, started playing with his new puppets, and let him grab things out of his stocking... he quickly started playing.  Santa brought him two puppets, several new books, his first Tonka truck and Hot Wheels car and a set of bath toys.

Then we waited for Charlie to wake up.  Charlie was one of the last children to rise.  In the meantime we had fun playing with Ephram and watching our nephews and niece make their own discovery.

Braxton was eager to show us his headlamp.  It was really cool - and came in handy as it was still dark while he was going through his loot.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the bottle of Dr. Pepper that was left for Evin.  It came with a note that explained that Santa was delivering it on behalf of Steve Jobs.  Two things everyone knows about my nephew: 1) Dr. Pepper is his favorite beverage and 2) Steve Jobs is his idol.  To put it mildly, he was elated.

Finally, Charlie made his way down.  He had been very specific in his requests to Santa this year.  He must have been a good kid, because nearly all of his requests were met.  He got the skateboard that he had been begging for, as well as a helmet and pads to go with it.  His stocking brought him the crayons, rocket balloons, silly bands, and other things that he was excited to see.  He got two puppets as well... and he and Ephram have fun playing with them!  He also got a headlamp just like his cousin's.

I think Charlie was the last one to wake, so once he was done we all started to prepare to open the rest of the gifts under the tree...

The LugNuts and the Epi-Watch

I have to pause from my blogging for a moment to promote my brilliant nephews.  If you are my Facebook friend, you have probably already seen my posts about this, so you can move along... but many of my blog visitors aren't on Facebook, so I am posting for their benefit.

One of my nephews has an allergy to peanuts, which you may know is one of the most scary allergies... because the reactions can be so severe.  Evin has always had an epipen that he is supposed to take everywhere with him in case a reaction occurs.  If you have experience with them, you know how difficult it can be to remember and store them.  Evin and his brother, my other nephew Braxton, are part of a robotics team that devised a new solution for their robotics project this year.  Their solution is the Epi-Watch, and I think it's a really good idea.  They won their local competition, and received a big award at their state competition this year.  The judges must have agreed.  Now they have applied for a patent and are part of a competition to win money to develop their idea.

They've also been on the news in Arizona a couple of times.  Here is a link to the news story that ran this week.  http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/the-'lug-nuts'-invent-the-epi-watch,-which-aims-to-be-more-convenient-than-the-epipen

I also have added their blog to my blog roll on the right side of this page.

Finally, please vote for their team in the competition - The Global Innovation Award.  The link to vote is here:  http://fllinnovationaward.firstlegoleague.org/teams/lugnuts/submission/epi-watch.  You can vote once per day per IP address.  I think the competition ends in another week or two.

Thank you for supporting my nephews!

Santa's Drop

Once the kids were asleep, all of the adults busily cleaned the area and made room for Santa to place his gifts.  The tree had so many gifts under it already.  But Santa came and found room to place presents for Ephram, Charlie and the four cousins that were sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa's house that night.  We were really excited when we saw what he left for our boys!  (Thank goodness he brought Charlie the skateboard he requested... he even managed to make one that had a cartoon on it and the color brown.  Charlie's requirements were detailed this year!)

Christmas Eve at Grandpa Kovar's

This year we flew down to California for the holidays... Christmas, New Years and Ephram's birthday.  It was a fun, packed trip and we had a great time.  Last year I was nine months pregnant for the holidays, so traveling wasn't an option.  It was nice to see all of our families again!  (It would have been perfect if the Bowers' and Kartchners could have joined us too!)

The first holiday celebration took place on Christmas Eve.  Andy's family always did the bulk of celebrating on Christmas Eve, so when possible we spend Christmas Eve with his family.

Kristina, Andy's sister, sent us the cutest little santa suit for Ephram.  We put him in it and had fun watching him toddle around.  He just started to take his first real steps a few days before Christmas, so the timing was excellent!

Charlie was borrowing Andy's santa hat for most of the evening... we also got a picture of both of the boys in their gear.  The picture isn't the best... most of the ones I took were blurry because they were moving so quickly.  (I'm sure it also had something to do with the candies and cookies that were there in rich supply!)

Andy and I prepared one of our favorite dinners for the occasion - tacos.  Everyone ate a lot... Ephram too!  We were full afterward and spent some time just enjoying each other's company.  I also took a picture of all of the Kovar men together... three generations.  We were only missing the two little Bowers that are currently living in Belgium!

As the night wore on we prepared to open presents by listening to the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2.  Kris did a great job reading it for all of us.

And then it was present time!   Both boys were super excited about their gifts from Uncle Kris - Lincoln Logs for Charlie and a ball popper for Ephram.  This was also the first present opening experience for Ephram... it took some prodding to get him to rip the paper.

I guess we didn't have enough presents for Charlie to open on his own, because he helped everyone open their presents!

Once all of the presents were open we spent some time playing.  Charlie with his Lincoln Logs, and Ephram with a little snail toy from Grandpa Kovar.

And then it was time to get into pajamas and go to sleep so that Santa could make his deliveries.  We gave the boys matching pj's as their Christmas Eve gifts from us.  They were pretty cute!

And then we took off for my parent's house to put Charlie to bed.  We told him that Santa comes to the place that you are sleeping.  He was beyond excited to find out what Santa would bring...