Christmas DeLong Style...

We spent the last part of last week celebrating Christmas with my family in Ohio. It was such a fun and special time since we all got to be there together. Our family has so many Christmas traditions and I was very sad that we weren't going to get to experience them all this year. However, my mom worked very hard to make sure that we didn't miss anything. The woman is unbelievable. I truly don't know how she does it. Between cooking, cleaning, going to bed late and getting up early (with Brody so that I could sleep), I think she must be superwoman. Below is a picture of the whole family together! This is the first family picture that included Brody.

While we were in Ohio, we got to spend some time with my best friend, Kristy, and her little boy, Jack. We, along with my parents, took the boys to the zoo to see the lights on Thursday night. The picture to the left is Brax on the merry-go-round. To the right is Jack holding Brody. He loved Brody and did such a great job holding him :)

We did our traditional "Christmas Day" with my grandparents on Friday. It was the first time for all of them to meet Brody, so they especially enjoyed the cuddle time with him. Of course, they were entertained by Brax despite his somewhat crabby mood. Below is a picture of us with my mom's parents, the McCrone's. Brody's middle name is in honor of them. And here is a picture of Brody with my dad's mom, Grandma Ree. She also enjoyed holding little Brody. Of course, who wouldn't? :)

We did "Christmas Eve" at my parents' house on Friday night. My mom got the boys their matching pj's and we did our sibling gift exchange. We also put out some reindeer food to guide Santa's sleigh (which I'm sure was especially helpful since it wasn't actually Christmas Eve). We also left some cookies and milk for Santa. However, Brax was a bit unorthodox and made Santa's job very easy by eating his cookies for him.

We got up Saturday morning to find that Santa had brought Brax a basketball hoop and Ohio State bicycle to Momo and Papa's house. He loved playing "bask-et BAHL" and has Josh a bit concerned as basketball season and wrestling season coincide. He received many other gifts from Momo and Papa and, after enjoying a great brunch prepared by my mom, we all played with his toys for the rest of the day.On Sunday night we had our traditional DeLong/Rouhana get-together. We've been friends with this family since before my brother and sister were even born. Now we're all grown with kids of our own. Brax had the best time with Kennedy and Tatum. He showed off all of his best comedy routines in order to try to gain their admiration. He was especially enthralled with Kennedy, who is almost five. He hugged her, and followed her around for most of the night. It may have been his first crush.

So, as you can see, we had a very busy few days at Momo and Papa's house. It's always nice being back at "home," especially during the holidays! We had such a great time and are looking forward to the next time that we can get back to Ohio!