Christmas: Indiana edition

The following photos are all from our Christmas morning with the Indiana fam. It was a big ordeal and literally took three hours for everyone to open their presents. And it was awesome.

Kensington, our niece, played Santa. She proudly read each name and handed out the gifts accordingly.

Deric's dad likes to think up the most creative ways to package gifts so that you can't guess what's what, although Deric's first gift, a shovel, was kinda hard to disguise.

But other things are much easier to disguise. A gift card, for example, doesn't look like a gift card when its packaged in a shirt box and under a stack of magazines (for added weight).

Kensington helped take pictures for everyone and even filmed video a few times. However, all the cameras were pointed at her for a majority of the morning. Watching kids open presents is much more fun than watching adults.

Two of Kensie's favorite gifts were quickly given a seat up front so they could watch her open the rest of her presents. That's Clifford and T-Bone, in case you didn't know.

Deric's theme for this year's gifts was tools. He got a miter saw, a table saw, and a shop-vac. He got a shovel, an oil drip pan, a 4-in-1 tool thingie, and other tools I don't know. He was very, very happy. And I'm very happy too, because now I'll be getting bookcases, tables, and shelves...and anything else I dream up.

All three women got Cricuts, a totally unexpected gift. Liz loves to scrapbook, so she was definitely excited. I don't scrapbook, but I have all sorts of plans for incorporating the Cricut designs/words into paintings and other house decorations.

Deric's dad worked hard all summer on their front lawn, which used to be completely wooded. But its now covered in green grass, so he was pretty pumped about his new sprinkler heads.

Kensie's absolute favorite gift was her new friend, Belle (and Mrs. Potts and Chip). Belle reads stories and sings songs from her movie, and she didn't leave Kensie's side all day. 

Christmas morning with Deric's family was so much fun. We spent the remainder of our time with them doing nothing and enjoying every minute of it. We watched movies, played on his mom's new iPad, ate too much, and played card games.

All too soon we had to get back in the car (again) for another road trip back home. As sad as it was to leave family and the Christmas season behind, it was so nice to get home. Living out of a suitcase wears on you, ya know? So now we're (obviously) back home and slowly taking down Christmas decorations, which I hate. But Deric and I both have new toys to use for projects of all sorts, so that should keep us occupied until the warmer months!