Part III

We loaded the sleigh and headed to Effingham on the Saturday before Christmas. Loading the sleigh around here is about a two hour operation without loading any Christmas presents. As we were in the middle of our loading process, Landon climbed up on a chair in the kitchen and grabbed the tub of holiday TV mix. When I walked in on him, he grabbed the tub with both arms and proclaimed that it was his turn and that he did not want to share. The Kutscher TV mix addiction starts at an early age apparently. We stopped in Effingham to see Grandma Linda, Aunt Lou, Uncle Bob, Lori, and Baleigh. After much contemplation over the correct words of "Here We Come a Caroling," we bundled up to serenade the neighbors on East Pine Drive. But it was windy and cold, and 2 of the 3 houses we went to, there was no one home...hmmm....not a very successful outing.

On Sunday we went to church to see Mom and Dad sing in the Christmas Cantata. It was a great program, complete with a live manger scene. Each pew was dismissed to bring their offering to the front where Mary, Joseph, the babe and their clan all were. After we sat down, Landon wanted to see Baby Jesus again, but by the time we could get out of the pew, they were dismantling the stable. We went back to Grandma's house for a delicious Christmas dinner and had some good quality family time, complete with games, singing, snacks, and a couple of good games of chase Landon around the loopty loo of the hallway. Here is the whole fam damily singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which is going on a run of a two year tradition.

Landon got to see his custom made by Aunt Lou Bork Bork Birthday cake. As you can clearly see, he loved it so much he was trying to scale the table to get to it. There was some concern over the absence of candles, but after we promised candles later in the week, he was bork bork borking up a storm.

On Sunday evening, we opened presents at Mom and Dad's house. It was Landon's first round of opening gifts. It turns out he's a very meticulous gift unwrapper. There cannot be on shred of paper left on a gift, or it is NOT totally unwrapped. Here he is unwrapping his Charlie Brown Christmas DVD.

Michael bought us a LAPTOP computer! That's right.....a laptop.....actually a mini laptop. We were totally not expecting that. That's quite a gift. A much appreciated one too, considering our desk top computer is a dinosaur that I often swear at while blogging. Chad got a really cool Cardinal hanging for his man cave, and Mom and Dad got a "romantic get away for two to beautiful St. Louis, Missouri" to see Stomp and stay at a Bed and Breakfast. All three of the boys got matching pajama pants. I'm gonna go ahead and say that this may be one of my favorite pictures of the entire year. Despite the reflection from the Christmas tree on Chad's face, it may be a framer.

Grandpa and Grandma came over on Monday, and we exchanged gifts with them. They got Landon a John Deere Gator...which he can (someday) actually drive. We were a little curious to see how the Gator would go over, considering the boy is terrified of lawn mowers and tractors. He thought it was cool from a distance at first. Then there was a progression. Here's his first time in the back of the Gator with Oliver. He climbed in and out of there a few times. Then got brave enough to sit in the passenger seat, and by the time the night was over, he was sitting in the driver's seat. He still doesn't know that it moves though....baby steps.

We stayed at Mom and Dad's until Christmas Eve. Before we headed home, we had had a little bit of rest and relaxation, and plenty of time to try out our new toys. I'll end part III of the post, with a video that's sure to become a classic, of Mom and Dad obeying the demands of their grandson and dancing to his piano playing. It's obvious that I come from a long lineage of great dancers. Ahh...the power of a grandchild. He has them wrapped around his little finger.