Christmas '08!

We had a wonderful Christmas week, full of family, friends, fun and presents galore!!

This was Hallie's first Christmas, and she surprised us all by learning how to crawl!! I give Gavin credit for teaching her - or at least giving her the incentive she needed - because on Christmas Eve morning, he was playing with a puzzle that she was trying to get at, and he kept pulling it away from her. But she was persistent, and was able to wiggle her way over to it each time. It's an army-type crawl that involves a lot of elbows and rolling from side to side, but she definitely gets to her intended destination! Way to go Hallie Ballie - it was a Christmas miracle! :)

This year was Gavy's third Christmas, and they just keep getting more fun every year, as he realizes more and more about what's going on. He was very interested in Santa this year - well at least in talking about him, not necessarily in seeing him (as evidenced in the photo below). So we were eating breakfast on Xmas Eve, and I said "Santa's coming tonight!", to which he replied "Santa come eat waffles with Gavin." I said, "No, Santa's going to come when you're asleep tonight," and he said "Oh, Santa come cuddle with Gavin." Too adorable!!

Breakfast with Santa at NSP Tap N Grill:

Here are some pics from the Hansen side - celebrated at Auntie Mar's on Sunday.

Marisela, Peter & Gabriella:

Gabriella is a very affectionate girl, and Gavy was doing all he could to avoid her hugs and kisses!

This is the two of them racing... looks like Gabs is a little faster than Gavy! :) They are at an age that they play really well together - finally!! They're pretty darn adorable!

Gavy's funny fake smile.

Playing with the easel from Grandpa:

Wearing the paint smock and Grandma's antlers:

This was the outfit (from Peter & Marisela) that Hallie was wearing on the morning that she learned to crawl. I guess I should've put a 'track suit' on her sooner, and she might've been crawling a lot earlier!! (I think she looks exactly like Auntie Sara in this pic)

And the beautiful, beautiful dress from Auntie Mar that she wore on Christmas Eve:

Here she is in action:

Learning a lot about girly presents from big cousin Anna!

Also, on Christmas Eve, Anna bit into a sugar cookie and lost a tooth!! She was so excited to have both Santa and the Tooth Fairy coming on the same night!

Gavin & Bumpa:

Christmas morning - opening Santa presents at our house:

And the last celebration - Christmas morning at Nana & Bumpa's. Looks like Gavy's all Christmas'ed out!

Nana & I have the same hair color!

We went to see "Marley and Me" - I give it 3/5 stars, not as good as the book - with Nana, Marin & Abby. When we asked Gavin afterwards what it was he said "Bad Dog, Marley!". And Gavy gets upset every time I call Tenny Marley, saying "No, he's Tenny". But he definitely reminds us of Marley - in a good way, of course!! :)

We haven't had enough time to play with the new toys to determine the favorites yet, but here are two that Tenny definitely does NOT like -

The "Move & Crawl Ball" - it's awesome for Hallie's crawling quest, but it wiggles a lot and turns on on its own randomly. He's barked at it a lot! And the Bat & Wobble Penguin - another great one for Hallie, but frustrating for Tenny! :)
On a side note - "Playoffs, baby!!"!! :) Way to go Vikes!!