An East Michigan Christmas, 2011
The morning of December 17th, we arrived in Southgate the night before, said hello to Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia, and woke up to a great breakfast! We swung by and picked up Great Grandma Betty and had a great day!
*Mmm! Something smells good!*
Bacon is one of several things you can give a child that will cause them to be fully unable to look up from their plate. Otherwise, perfect! See this image larger.
Nina tries to get in the spirit of the holidays by borrowing a Minnie Mouse hat. But whose hat is it? 😉 See this image larger.
NOW she’s in the spirit of Christmas! That or into the eggnog, not sure which! See this image larger.
Ian, passing through. See this image larger.
Love it when she’s Daddy’s girl!
LOVE this shot of Great Grandma Betty! What a smile! See this image larger.
And then it was time to hand out gifts! The part of Santa’s Helper will be played by Nina Chapman! See this image larger.
Ian got the weirdest ball I’ve ever seen! He loved it! See this image larger.
I don’t get to see this smile too often, that’s the true innocent, delighted smile of *I’ve never seen this before!* See this image larger.
*Look Mommy!* See this image larger.
Nina enjoys sharing with her brother. In this case she’s sharing her gift… wrap. See this image larger.
Mommy spots Nina’s new gift while Ian tears into one of his.
Nina got Abby Cadabbie! She loves her! (Of note – a day later, while on the road — she woke up, squeezed Abby to hear her talk, and fell back asleep immediately.)
“Hi! I’m Abby!”
Nina’s up for an outfit change, donning her cool Santa diaper, while Grandma makes Abby say hello! See this image larger.
*Thanks, Gramma!* See this image larger.
Are you, by chance, thinking “Wow the little one is beating up the big one, that can’t happen too often?” Wrong. See this image larger.
Ian got a great big Lego set, he was very happy! This picture shows him struggling with the size of it, but that’s a smile, trust me! See this image larger.
*Here’s one for you, Grampa!*
Mommy reads!
Another story read by Mommy! See this image larger.
These were very cool books, with the voices of Gramma Marcia, Grampa Dave, and Great Grandma Betty all recorded into them! Here Gramma Marcia reads a Peanuts book to Nina! See this image larger.
I lean in for a group shot. Note that Grampa Dave pads the table whenever we show up. Pretty much whenever we come over, I end up being very happy that he did so as a real “bonk” ends up as more of a “spoomf.” See this image larger.
Go crazy! Go crazy!
The kids always have fun here.
What a gorgeous shot. Please look at this one larger — Nina’s smile is perfect, to me. It says *Shhh, yes I love you but Grampa is reading me a story.* Grampa’s smile is great too! See this image larger.
Nina was cracking us all up, either with how she was handling Ian’s intrusions, or her wonderful babble. See this image larger.
“Daddy’s hat!” See this image larger.
Practicing snuggling up for the night! See this image larger.
Another good one! Might want to see this one larger too! See this image larger.
Great group shot, although Nina may have just finished burping up a little bacon gas, based on that look! See this image larger.
Nina’s laugh and smile are very infectious! See this image larger.
LOL. 
One of Ian’s gifts was a cool spider-vehicle. He loves it!
*Mr. Monkey, are you still awake? I brought you a pillow!*
An excellent time was had by all, thank you so much for your generosity and hospitality! We had a great time!
