Wensuc Family Christmas

Yesterday afternoon we trekked to Colorado Springs for the Wensuc family Christmas celebration. We had a wonderful afternoon -- full of great food, fantastic gifts, and even better company. We'll miss all of you on Christmas, but we loved spending time together yesterday, and we wish you safe travels to St. Louis and Kansas City.

A little family time before the party got going. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

Gathered together for a delicious Italian dinner, complete with gelatto and sorbetto for dessert. Blanden said, "Mmm!" to all of that! (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

Spending time with Grandma. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

All of the "kids" watching Grandma's dancing nutcrackers.

A little football outside after dinner. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

Time for the gifts! Gretchen and Jeremy show Blanden how it's done. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

"I know exactly what to do with these! Thanks, guys!" (Blanden has enjoyed playing with Jeremy and Gretchen's bricks since he first learned to roll across the floor and knock them down. Now he is excited to have a set of his own!)

Wondering what else might be in all of these packages.

Now he's starting to get the hang of this. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

Trying on some new football slippers (which came complete with matching jammies) with the help of Aunt Nancy. (Photo courtesy of Grandpa)

After we left the Springs, we stopped off at Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy's house to pick up a few things. By then it was dinnertime, and so since we were in the neighborhood, Blanden, Ed, and I stopped at a yummy Cajun restaurant before finally heading home and calling it a night.

Some of Blanden's new goodies under the tree: a darling (personalized!) Thomas the Tank Engine backpack, just on time for school, full of new books, which of course Blanden loves, from Grandma and Grandpa; a long-sleeve shirt embroidered with a giraffe from Grandma -- Blanden actually hugged the shirt when he opened it, he loves giraffes so much!; a Little People dump truck from Uncle Nick; and Charlie Brown (with DVD) from cousins Gretchen and Jeremy.

For those of you who were curious (i.e., Mom and Dad) as to how we fit the tree into our foyer, which now doubles as Blanden's playroom, again this year, as you can see, it does all fit -- though it's a good thing we have a tall, skinny tree. :-) But it looks like Santa Claus has already come!