Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Bennett is at such a fun age that you can't help but catch some of his excitement. After mass on Christmas Eve, we drove around Ridgecrest to look at Christmas lights. We even were able to fit in a quick visit with Santa Claus! (This was very helpful because he was sure to communicate to Bennett that he could not come and leave presents unless he was asleep. It's always better to hear it from the Big Man himself.) Bennett woke up a little before 7 Christmas morning, giving us just enough time to open presents and play before breakfast at the O'Neil house.

Bennett is all smiles.

Bennett shows of his gift from Lisa and Kurt.
Walkie talkies are always a hit!

This Christmas Bennett had to do double duty -
Liam needed help with his presents of course! :)

Matt got me a Flip for Christmas, so I can finally take videos again! Yay!
Here is Bennett showing off his long awaited train set...

After a delicious breakfast, we opened more presents, and then retired home for much needed naps. We returned for a wonderful dinner, but left shorty after. I don't remember Christmas being this exhausting when I was a child. But phew! We were tired! All in all, it was a great holiday! It was great to see everyone. Erin, Ryan, and Keira were able to stay for a nice long visit. Even Joyce drove up Christmas morning to celebrate with everyone! Keira has grown so much since we last saw her at Thanksgiving. She is definitely starting to look like her own little person. She happily demonstrated her newest skill...I just love her dimples!

Look at that grin!

This year, Santa Claus brought Papa some pretty neat science toys (a water rocket, a gyroscope, a prism, and a pipe straw system). He happily shared them with Bennett...

Papa and Bennett shoot off the water rocket. It's cold outside, but Bennett doesn't like to wear his pants (he's always prepared with shorts on underneath!).

Papa and Liam made some wonderful dinner music.

I wish I could fit about 20 more pictures on here (there are so many people I didn't get to fit in! Sorry!), but the post would then take up a few pages. Please visit the Christmas 2009 album for more pictures.