Christmas 2010

Addy posing with the cookies and milk she left out for Santa and the baby carrots she left out for the reindeer.



Santa found us at our new house!


   Our Christmas celebration began at our house in Illinois on Christmas Eve morning.  Earlier in the month we wrote Santa a letter asking that he come early on Christmas Eve, so that the kids could open their presents before we left to visit family in Indiana.  Not only was Santa accomodating, he came overnight on the eve of Christmas Eve.  Addy was so excited to see the packages Santa left and loved her gifts.  Of course Carter loved the wrapping paper and packaging from the gifts and wanted to taste everything.  The kids got to open their gifts and had a great deal of playtime before loading up and heading to Indiana.  Our trip home didn't go as quickly as we would have liked, as the falling snow slowed us down quite a bit, especially in southern Indiana where it looked like they had done nothing with the roads.  Six and a half hours later we arrived at my parent's house safely and were so glad to finally be in Indiana for the holidays.  We arrived on Christmas Eve and left on New Year's day.  Since it was such a long trip with a lot going on, I decided to do a list of some of the highlights of our visit.

Making cookies on Christmas Eve
 

Checking out his brand new chair from Santa

Addy loves her new princess dolls from Mom and Dad

She was so glad to get the train table she was asking for from Santa!

• On Christmas Eve we exchanged presents with my family.  Addy got to stay up a lot later than usual and loved every minute of it! 

• On Christmas Day we spent the first half of the day with my family and ate a yummy lunch.  The kids spent the majority of the morning playing with their new toys and with their aunt and uncle.  In the Afternoon we headed to Evansville to celebrate with Derek's mom.  When we got there we exchanged gifts and then got ready to go to church.  Addy really enjoyed church, as she was the only one in the children's program and got lots of one-on-one attention from the teacher.  Then we headed back to the house to play with the new toys the kids got from Grandma Freihaut. 

Breaking in her new shopping cart

• On Sunday we headed out to the stores for some after Christmas shopping.  We picked up a few discounted decorations and even a few super good deals on toys for the kids' birthdays. 
• Sunday afternoon we watched the Colt's game with my parents game.  This was an especially important game for us because the Colts were playing the Raiders, which is Derek's team.  Well, let's just say that the Colts came away victorious, and Derek was a little grumpy:) After the game we headed to my uncle's house for Christmas on my mom's side. It was great seeing everyone.  Addy and Carter were the only small children there, and boy did they soak up all of the attention from the relatives.  They put on a show for most of the evening, particularly Miss Addy.
• Monday Derek, my dad, and myself headed to Bloomington, IN to see Indiana play Penn State.  Carter and Adalyn stayed back with their Grandma Schum and Ashley.  This is the third time we've done this over the holidays and it has become somewhat of a tradition. Unfortunately the Hoosiers fell to Penn State, which was a big disappointment.  We still enjoyed the trip and hope to do it again next year. 

Derek and me at the new Cook Hall practice complex.



Derek and Dad in front of the 1981 Championship trophy



Addy is teaching Uncle Brian how to play her new Mobigo



A Pillow Pet!!



Christmas Day with Mamaw and Papaw Schum



Posing with Aunt Ashley and Uncle Brian



Now that is some "Addy"tude

• On Tuesday Derek and I headed to Louisville in the afternoon for a day trip.  We went shopping, ate at my favorite restaurant--The Cheesecake Factory, and went to the movies to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  We enjoyed our time together and the fact that we didn't have to worry about car seats, strollers, and fussy kids for a  day.  It's amazing how much more ground we covered on our own.
• We headed to Tell City with my family on Wednesday to eat at Chicago's Pizza.  Ashley works there on weekends and had a gift certificate, so she bought our lunch:)  After lunch Mom and Dad took Addy to the movies to see Yogi Bear.  They all enjoyed the movie and Addy was very well behaved (at least according to Grandma and Grandpa).

Playing under Mamaw and Papaw's tree

• Thursday we headed to Derek's mom's house to spend a few days with her before heading home.  On Friday we celebrated "Noon" Year's Eve at the Evansville Children's Museum.  They had a fun party for the kids to ring in the new year complete with party favors and a ball drop.  There was a large crowd, but Addy still really enjoyed herself. 

Making party favors with Mamaw at the Children's Museum

Having a ball with the raindrop lights

• Friday evening we rang in the New Year at Derek's mom's house.  Cory and Cameron made the trip down to get together for Christmas, so they also celebrated New Year's with us too.  It was a pretty low key celebration, but included an entertaining game of Pretty Pretty Princess with Addy, Derek, Cory, and Grandma Freihaut.  Derek ended up earning all of his jewelry and earning the Princess title.  It was a lot of fun watching the kids play.  Addy loves playing with her cousin and acts a bit like a mother hen when she is with him.  We headed back to Illinois on Saturday after going out to lunch with Derek's family.



Modeling the hat we made for Noon Year's Eve party



Playing with Cameron



The real princess and the wannabe...check out Derek's earrings!


We had a wonderful holiday week and were so happy to be able to spend it with family.  It was so exciting to watch Carter experience his very first Christmas.  This year Addy was especially fun to watch at Christmas because she was so excited about the season and everything that went with it.  It may take us a couple of weeks to wean her off of the Christmas carols and we will have to put her through detox from all of the sweets given to her by family members, but it was all worth it to see our little girl experience holidays with the family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!