Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas we had with my parents in Kansas City. The weather, however, wasn't so wonderful. We left MN last Tuesday night to try to beat "the storm of the century" by driving into Des Moines and spending the night there. Actually, the travels down to KC were fine...it was while we were there and the way back that things got messy. For once, we didn't have anywhere to go once we got to my parents, so the record snowfall that dumped on the KC area on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day didn't affect us. Traveling home, though, was a different story. The roads were slick with ice, covered with a layer of snow...Kansas and Missouri did an excellent job of plowing the roads, but Iowa failed. Regardless, we made it home safely, and lost track counting cars in the ditch, rolled over, plowed over, etc. on the way home. Fun!

But, back to Christmas...this year's holiday with Ava was much different than last year's...

This year, she was running all around as opposed to sitting nicely in her Bumbo while we opened gifts.

This year, she decided that instead of unwrapping the gifts, she wanted to leave them as they were, and if even a gift tag fell off, she would it put it back on (OCD in the making, perhaps? I don't know where she would have gotten that from!)

This year, when we finally convinced her to open the gifts, she would focus on the one she just opened and had no interest in opening any others. Note to self: open the non-toy gifts first, and the fun, exciting ones last. Giving her the realistic toy cell phone as the first gift might not have been the best idea...

This year, we were able to share the joy of the season with her, and see it through her eyes. This year, indeed, was blessed and magical with our little Ava.

Two fun things to share...Ava has officially been marked a Blackwood - she likes butterball soup! And my dad has a new name, courtesy of Ava...I was asking her what Grampa was doing, and she said "Papa?" And thus, he is no longer Grampa, but Papa. Don't worry, she doesn't get him and Scott confused...Scott is definitely: "Dadddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

As Ava and I were getting ready this past Sunday to Skype with my parents, she sat patiently on my lap and said, "Where's Papa?" It's only a matter of time until the rest of the grandparents have names, too, I'm sure...

So many pictures to share...enjoy!

She visited with Santa before Christmas - such a serious look from both of them. Smile!