Christmas 2011

We spent Christmas in Annapolis this year.  It was a trip full of kids, noise, laughter and many family gatherings.  Thanks for hosting us, Deterdings:)

A few shots from the gift opening frenzy:

After Christmas, we took Gus into Washington to the transportation part of the Smithsonian.  He had a blast going on a "special date" with Mom & Dad.  We rode the metro in, and that was by far the highlight of the day.

We stopped for a bit at the zoo after the Smithsonian, but Gus was so busy pretending to be a metro train that he missed most of it.

  

For the kids, one highlight of our visit was a tea party for the cousins and their special stuffed animal friends.  My mom made outfits for everyone and oversaw the cookie and candy eating!

Like I said, we saw a lot of cousins on this trip!  Here are a few of my favorites:

 Kip & Avery...

and the 2 boys, Gus & Kaz.  These were so cute, I had to post all of them!

Getting Ready

We Nolls had a fun 2011 Advent.  

We made gingerbread playdoh, 

cookies,

 "Are you sure they're not ready yet?"

and peppermint bark.

We cut down our tree at a new place, but with the same wonderful friends.

a little one for the kids' room:)

family photo, take 1

Aren't our children cute?

 family photo, take 2!

We love you, Keans!

 A cutie standing by the finished product

I made an advent calendar this year with the hopes of putting in a fun Christmas related activity for each day.  I think we made it to around the 11th....hopefully, we'll do better next year!

 My motto for this year was "Enjoy the beauty of the season."  And I think we did pretty well.