"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

Someone was not so happy to be sitting on Santa's lap this year.  Last year he was as happy as can be; of course, he had no idea what was going on.  Haha, this year he still has no idea who Santa is, but he knows enough to know he's a stranger.  Poor kid:)

This Christmas we got a very special gift... our family came all the way from Missouri to visit us this holiday season.  (Of course, while we all would agree spending time with family is one of the greatest things we could ask for, we do not mean to take away from the true greatest gift and the reason for the season: See it HERE).  We are so thankful our family made the long journey out West.  We had the greatest time with them (Haha, which in true Swisher fashion usually means everyone sarcastically laughs at everyone else's expense... Yeah, family:).

This year, all the expectations were on Mitchell's shoulders.  Afterall, he is older this year, understands a little bit about what's going on, loves to play with boxes and wrapping paper; yes, this year he would run into the living room all excited about the toys Santa left, rip open presents like crazy, and laugh the whole time he was doing it.  Haha, not quite.  The poor kid was a little overwhelmed by the audience watching him on Christmas morning.  He came down the stairs in tears, didn't even look at his toys, and refused to leave my lap.  But, it's not just a hat-rack in our crowd, so we turned on his favorite show, Elmo.  We also gave him his pacifier for comfort (which we usually only handout during bed time), and gave him his space.  After watching a few minutes of Elmo, he started to realize everything, and everyone, was normal and as it should be.  He slowly came out of his shell and the rest of the morning went as we thought it would:  fun playing with toys, wanting to help everyone open their presents, caring more about the boxes everything came in instead of the toys themselves (haha, you know, normal kid stuff:).

Thank you to everyone who kindly sent gifts our way.  It means a lot that you thought of us.  I tried to get as many pictures as I could, but I didn't want to not be living in the moment as well; so, here's what we got:

Sitting on Dad's lap, watching Elmo.  Haha, doesn't he look thrilled?!  :)

Finally, he got brave and curious enough to go check out his stash from Santa.  Hey, we even got a smile;)  Santa got Mitchell this ride-along car, a doodle-magnet board, puzzles, books, and the PJ's he is wearing.

Of course, he still couldn't quite pull himself away from Elmo.  Haha, either that or he is checking to make sure Elmo is still there and everything is still alright with the world:)

Justin trying on his winter hat Santa got him in his stocking.  He is giving us his stare-off-in-the-distance/model pose:)

While Mitchell is playing with one of his puzzles, Uncle Justin decided to try out the rocking chair Opa and Oma gave Mitchell for Christmas.  Haha, it's good to know that the chair will work for Mitchell now, and when he is 24:)

Haha, Ok, in my family when we opened presents my dad would pass out the gifts one at a time, and we would all watch each other open our gifts.  It was fun to watch everyone's reactions and it also made our Christmas celebration last longer than 10 minutes (vs. when everyone opens up all their gifts at the same time).  Haha, well, Chris and Justin are not the biggest fans of doing Christmas that way.  Because they say, and I'm paraphrasing their words here, that it puts a lot of pressure on them to give the exact, right, happy reactions to their gifts.  And not that they aren't happy with their gifts, but they are afraid their expressions may not truly show how excited they really are; so, they over think it and end up over-acting their excitement, so it may come off as fake, when it's really not.  Haha, sounds like to me they put way too much thought into the process:)  

So, here are pictures of Chris opening the same gift.  The first picture is his "fake" smile when he wants to make sure his happiness is coming across (haha, we asked him to perform this for us, for the picture).  The second picture is his true, genuine, surprised, happy smile (he had no idea his mom got him the video game he wanted).  Do you notice the difference?  :)

Opa and Oma opening up some of their gifts.  We got Opa a coffee mug with his name on it and some facts about the year he was born.  Did you know a gallon of gasoline in 1932 was only 10 cents?!!  Man, that would be nice today.  And Oma loved her extra warm, stylish gloves.  They came in handy with all the snow we got:)

Mitchell enjoying his rocking chair.  Thank you Opa and Oma!!

Ok, a couple of fun things to notice in this video:  In the very first part, Mitchell has decided he is ready to venture away from Chris's lap and go check out his toys; well, I made the mistake of thinking he was just fine and I turned off Elmo.  Haha, notice how fast he books it back to Chris when his precious Elmo was gone and all of sudden things didn't feel "normal" anymore.  Silly kid.  Haha, and about halfway through listen for Oma's reference to a dime store and all of our reactions.  Just some good 'ole Christmas morning fun and banter:)

Mitchell opening the Christmas gift that all his Great Aunts and Uncles from his Swisher side got him.  Thank you all for his wonder gift, he loves the activity cube!!  And notice him sitting in a box from a gift he had opened earlier.  I swear, this kid is just like a cat when it comes to climbing into things:)

Enjoying his rocking chair.  It is still a little big for him, but that is perfect.  It means, he can still enjoy it for years to come and not just for the next few months.  Besides, he climbs in and out of it just fine:)  And thank you Aunt Vonnie for the Hot-Hands, Mitchell loves them and carries them around everywhere.

Mitchell loved playing in that big box/fort so much that Meemaw decided to get him the real deal for Christmas.  He loves his tent!!  It even has a tube to put on the side that Mitchell can crawl through, but we're waiting to attach it after we put our Christmas decorations up and have more room in the house:)  Thanks Meemaw for the fun gift!!




Thank you again to our wonderful family for driving all the way out here to see us!!  You truly made this Christmas a special one.  And thank you to all our family who sent us gifts and warm wishes.  We love and miss you guys very much and hope to see you all soon:)  Merry Christmas everyone!!