Christmas Day

I am now sooo far behind! I think I got overwhelmed at the thought of sorting through all the Christmas pictures, and then got caught up preparing for a couple of big events. I'll pull out a few pics from Christmas.

We went to visit my family for the holidays. It was the first time in a number of years that everyone was there! We got in quite late on Christmas eve, but made it in time for Christmas morning. It is tough to capture the true pandemonium of Christmas morning at the Coffman's. My personal fav is the naked baby Lucas.


After presents, we hit the pond for some quality broomball/skateless pond hockey.This has been a tradition since before the newest generation, and it has been interesting to see how the little ones have responded.
My family is quite competitive, as you can see by the intense look on the faces here. . . 

And the amount of effort exerted trying to stop the 5 year old from scoring here. . .

After a while, Taylor and Devin decided they had enough and went to poke holes in the ice. You'll have to trust me when I say this is safer than it looks. There seemed to be a thin layer of ice on top, followed by an inch or two of water, with a thick layer of ice below. E and I hung out with them for a while, until they broke through the thick layer, and then decided they didn't need the extra weight :)

At the other end of the spectrum were Lex and Lily, and little Ryan who cried every time his mom tried to remove him from the action.

After pond hockey, it was time to get serious about Christmas dinner. We have a tradition in our house where everyone contributes their favorite dish for Christmas. While this definitely keeps Christmas dinner interesting, it also keeps Mom out of the kitchen all day. This year, at one point, we had the kitchen filled with the men-folk.

Christmas Eve

So we cheated a little bit and opened our presents on Christmas Eve morning. We were flying out that evening for IN, and wanted to do it here. E doesn't really appreciate presents yet, but we got some fun pics with my new camera :-)
The train conductor hat from Choo Choo Bob

 Movie Star Sunglasses

 We decided to make blocks for E, but Christmas snuck up on us. I found myself painting enough blocks to spell E's name the night before. He didn't know the difference!

 Mike's mug

 My camera

At the airport. E was a doll, and was sooooo good on the flight and the drive. Hooray!!

Visitors from the west

Our good friends Heather and Paul were in town from Seattle to visit family for the holidays. They have a  week old, so it was really fun to catch up and meet their little one. We were able to meet up with them for dinner one night, and then H and I met for baby yoga and lunch. As Heather said, "I never would have guessed when I met you 7 years ago in B-school that we would be here." More of Heather and their little guy to come.

Snowstorm

It's really tough to put 17" of snow in perspective (yes, this is the snowstorm that collapsed the metrodome). Or as Dad said, "1 and a half E's." Actually, E is over 20" tall, but the snow certainly looks like it's taller than he is!

We were supposed to have a party that day. At about 10:00 I called around to see how people were feeling. They all assured me they would be here - we live in MN, and we're close! About noon, people started to cancel. It was deep! The airport, the mail service, and the city buses all shut down because it was so deep. I officially get a Minnesota tough badge, but won't publicly admit why ;-)

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit

The first weekend in December (yes, I just realized how far behind I am), my mom and dad came for a visit. It was really good to see them. It was snowing when they arrived, so we took them to the Mall of America, where Grandpa found his new favorite store. Grandma was convinced it was a gimic, but I'm sure we all left a little bit smarter.
On Saturday, after the Minnesota History Center, Mike took Dad to a Bethel and St Thomas football game, while mom and I pulled E around in his sled.

While E isn't too happy to let anyone but Mom or Dad hold him, Grandpa was able to work some magic and get him to fall asleep a couple of times.

My memory is a bit foggy by now, but somewhere during the weekend, Dad found the time to make E a kilt from the Stewart dress tartan. Dad was much happier making it than E was wearing it

.

Other activities for the weekend included the Minnesota Zoo and a tour of the Saint Paul skyway. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making the trip!

Baby yoga

Although I loved prenatal yoga, E isn't such a fan of baby yoga.
This is the warm-up. Sometimes this is all the further we get.

 This is one of E's favorite moves, and sometimes I can pull him back in towards the end of class if I bounce him enough.

Since I didn't coordinate cute yoga outfits and picture day, that's all you get of baby yoga :-)

Thanksgiving

We had a great time with Mike's family over Thanksgiving, including being able to meet E's newest cousin (who E may or may not have tried to eat).

 Grandma and Grandpa with the boys.

The older girls weren't really so into the babies, though I think the babies may have made a bit of an impression on them. We kept hearing, "Baby cry. Baby sad," even when they weren't crying :-)

This last pic is of E and his favorite Christmas present. Yes, this is the last year I will be able to assign him a favorite :-) This is an afghan Mike's late grandmother started, and his mom finished it after she passed away. I'm not sure if she even knew we were expecting. We miss you, Helen!