Happy Holidays!

We have had such a great Christmas and New Year's this year!  The boys loved every second of it, and I am so thankful we all stayed healthy and could get to all of the parties.  We actually made it to ALL of the parties this year -- both of my grandma's, Evan's grandma's, and both of our families.  We are just so blessed to have such amazing families.

Here is our Christmas card this year.  Cutie pies, huh?

Here are my little men in their Christmas day outfits.  Tyler had a matching one, but he just wasn't feeling in the mood for pictures Christmas morning (Micah, Andrew, Derek)

Micah....stinker.  He would NOT cooperate!

We celebrated with Evan's family the weekend after Christmas, and this year we had four new people join the Anema clan:  Luke (Kayla's new hubby), Baby Georgia (Christy's baby girl), and our two new little adopted nephews (ages 5 and 6). That is a lot to celebrate!

Here I am helping my little crew decorate a gingerbread house.  Our sister in law always has something fun planned for the kids to do there...this was a HUGE hit!  (As a side note....I TRY to keep clothes on my kids.  I really do.  It just never works.  Their shirt is either "all wet" or "too dirty" or "too hot" or they just want to be "naked baby, mommy, naked baby!!"  I'm starting not to notice if they're clothed or not.)

It is such a fun bunch at the Anema's.  ALL the grandkids are boys except for our new little neice.  It's a rowdy time!

And here is Evan's sister, Christy, with her little girl, Georgia Ann.  How beautiful are they?!

She is seriously the cutest little thing ever!  I did not get NEARLY enough snuggle time with her!  They live in WI, so we're definitely going to need to visit soon!  I know I have a lot of babies, but I still canNOT get enough of them (no, no, no, don't worry, people!)

Oh how much crazier Christmas has gotten!  But so fun!

Grandma Carol made these cute pillow cases for the boys...they LOVE them, and won't go to bed without them!

The week of Christmas, I took the boys to Platte to my parents for a few days while Evan finished up a few days at work.  He joined us on Christmas Eve.  It was fun to get a few days there!  The boys loved the change of scenery, and mostly, they loved my parents little dog.  Poor Spike.  He's never had so much mac and cheese dropped into his fur, or yogurt spread on his nose, or bananas dropped on his head.  They giggled non stop every time we ate anything, b/c they just wanted to give it all to the dog.  Spike put on a little holiday weight this year.

"Helping" my dad unpack the dishwasher.  They were all handing him dishes so fast, he didn't know which one to grab first.

"Helping" my mom peel potatoes.  They loved sitting on her bar stools....

Tyler and Micah snuggled up...

And this pretty much sums up Micah....tromping around in "mommy's boots" laughing the whole time. He does life at 100 mph, and is usually making us laugh the whole time.  He is SO full of energy, and is such a little wild man.  He runs fast, bumps his head a lot, eats til he's stuffed every time, and always has a wet collar from drool.  He is a hilarious kid who brings us so much joy!!  

Lately anytime he's at the table, he'll suddenly turn around, shake his finger and say "NO NO Dino's!"  When I ask him what the dino's are doing, he tells me "Dino's eating Micah man's crackers!  Naughty dino's!"

Our life gets funnier and funnier as these little men start talking in more complete sentences!

Presents!  Evan and Tyler...

Derek and Andrew showing Grandpa Ken their new little diggers.

Our whole little (big) family.  It's so amazing to be at this point. It's still complete chaos, and more work than I ever imagined, but wow....what a joy.  How many people really get to experience a life like this?  We are blessed!

And the highlight for Tyler....orange cones!!!  Seriously, who doesn't love them?!  These are a BIG DEAL at our house.  So are rubberbands, batteries, duct tape, anything magnetic, and anything that looks like a stick or could be used for a "weapon."  Yes.  I have boys.  Lots and lots of boys.  No one will ever want to have a tea party with me. I can see that already.

Telling Grandpa thanks....

Grandma Nancy and Tyler...

The little guys got this adjustable height table and little school chairs...just like they have in daycares/preschools, b/c let's face it....that's what our house is!  We are going to use it ALL the time!

Derek, Andrew, Micah

We came in to the living room and Derek was diligently working on taking all the kleenex's out of the box and shredding them.  This took awhile.  

Then he decided he needed to blow his nose, so he worked on that for awhile.  Such a little character!

He thought this was the best thing ever!  Seriously.  Why do we buy them Christmas gifts?  All they want to play with are tissues and potatoes.  Oh - and canned foods are fun, too.  :)  

Since Christmas, we've just been hanging out at home, trying to get through this horribly cold winter.  Currently it is -16 degrees, and dropping.  Mostly we just hang out in this chest with blankets on our head.

And pretend we're Buzz Lightyear.  Always a good time!