Christmas 2010

It's safe to say that we had a fantastic Christmas. 2010 may have topped the previous eight that Mark and I have spent together. Colin contributed a lot to that. Having him made us enjoy the holidays so much more and he made us want to make the time special - even if he is only a month old. The day was super busy because we crammed 4 stops in to one day but we survived. Here is a recap:

We spent Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family at my Grandma Ann's. It was so nice to get caught up with my Grandma, my Aunt Karen and her family since we don't spend much time with them. The best part of the evening was watching my Grandma hold Colin. She's in her 90's and has Alzheimer's Disease so she may not have realized that she was holding her great grandchild but it was still special to introduce her to him.

Colin with his Great Aunt Karen

Once we got home, we got started with our own Testa family traditions.We all sat next to the Christmas tree and drank homemade hot chocolate while Mark read "T'was The Night Before Christmas" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".



Mommy and Colin

Colin and Daddy

We were up at 6AM on Christmas morning for Colin's diaper change and feeding so we decided to just stay up and get started with our family celebration. While breakfast was cooking, we all sat around the tree and opened our presents. Even the dogs and cat were excited to open presents!

Can you find Colin among all his presents?!

 We spent the rest of the morning with Mark's family in Ankeny. We had coffee and juice then opened our stockings and presents. His family has a tradition of watching a movie on Christmas. This year we watched Karate Kid (the new one). After we had lunch, we had a mini-photo shoot with Colin. Mark's Grandma got to hold Colin for the first time. It was such a great moment to witness. It's sad to think that Colin will probably grow up without his Great Grandmothers but it makes the time they spend together that much more special.

Our perfect little family

Colin with Great Grandma Martha Testa

After leaving Mark's parents house, we made a quick stop at Uncle Trevor and Aunt Heather's house where we caught up with Heather's family and opened gifts. After that, it was time for the last stop of the day - Uncle Corey and Aunt Elizabeth's house. We had dinner and opened gifts with my mom's side of the family. Even though we all live so close to each other, we don't get together very often so it was nice to be able to show off Colin to family members that don't see him very much.

Christmas was a crazy, busy time but it was worth it. It's weird to think that next year, Colin will be 13 months old and he'll be able to open his own presents!