Four Christmases

No, I'm not talking about the Reese Witherspoon & Vince Vaughn movie, I'm talking about Team Greenwood's Christmas 2012 travel extravaganza! We were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas with all of our families over the course of a one-week span! Here's the recap, the run-down, and of course the photo play-by-play. Warning: I usually don't leave home without my Canon 5D MKII, a few lenses, back-up battery, and flash! This trip, however, I gave myself a break. I used by point-and-shoot and my phone to capture some of the fun, and tried to do a better job of JOINING the fun, instead of being the one responsible for documenting it! So, enjoy the grainy, somewhat out of focus, lower quality photos -- I did!

Christmas #1: Weekend on the Central Coast with the Chappells
We get to do our annual kids Secret Santa gift exchange with Sean's brothers & sister, we skipped slaving over a big meal by ordering mexican take-out (delicious & awesome), and got to help our nephew Dylan celebrate his SIXTH birthday! Little man is in kindergarten now, and such a stud!

Christmas #2: Our Family Christmas with Landon on Nelson Way
Already blogged about this one...check it out here if you want to see Lando is some adorable Christmas footie pajamas.

Christmas #3: Christmas Eve & Christmas Day in San Clemente with the Greenwoods
Grandma Annie & Grandpa Bob outdid themselves once again, hosting us all for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day festivities. Landon loved getting to see his "GG", Great-Grandpa, "Pops", Uncle John, Aunt Laura, Daniel, and getting to spend more time with Aunt Nicole & Uncle Matthew! We had beautiful weather the 2 days we were there, allowing Landon to play outside with his first golf clubs set! For now, he's the only baby at this annual celebration, so our little man is getting pretty spoiled!

Christmas #4: Hartman Family Christmas traditions in Chilly Philly
Last but not least, we left Orange County the day after Christmas to head back east to see my family. This Christmas was different because for the first time in our family history (33 years or so) we (Jerry, Becky, Haley, Stacy, Sarah) were not together on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Somehow, we've managed to always be together, until this year. I was worried I would be sad, as it is sort of like the end of an era, but, surprisingly, our time together was like every year prior: we made the same food, wore matching pajamas (yep, that tradition is strong and not going anywhere anytime soon), made cinnamon rolls the morning we opened gifts, and more! It was wonderful because it was a reminder that it is the time we spend together that matters, not the day of the month! This trip was packed with great food, a trip to the Aquarium, Landon's first experience with snow, and a parents night out (thanks, Sarah & Josh)! Big thanks to Tom & Haley for hosting us all!

Our Christmas Morning

This morning, the three of us celebrated our family Christmas at home. It was so awesome to see Landon so happy and excited to see all of his presents under the tree. Here's a few pics for now...off to Orange County this afternoon, then Chilly Philly on Wednesday!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

First Annual Friends Holiday Dinner

We were lucky enough to host a bunch of our friends last Sunday for (what I hope was the first annual) holiday dinner! Everyone contributed a dish, app, or drinks, and we enjoyed an afternoon of fun, including a white elephant gift exchange for the adults, and early Christmas presents for the little guys!

The holiday season is usually so busy, and between making time to visit family near and far, wrapping up work for the year, and making time for company holiday parties, I find that your close friends often get neglected! It was great to be able to set aside some time to celebrate the holidays with our friends (before we all ship off to see our families all over the country)!

Merry (early) Christmas, everyone!

All set!

Landon and his ladies (Jeannine & Carlene) readin' books

Landon, Brandon, and Tyler

pTim thought he scored with this White Elephant gift...'til it got stolen!

White Elephant aftermath

Our remote shutter is coming in handy these days...everyone's in the picture!

Yum!

Christmas Art Projects

We are really happy with Landon's new school. His teachers are great, he's so happy, and the parents are all super nice & friendly. His teachers share so much info about his day: what he did, who he played with, what activities he enjoyed, and more. I love getting glimpses into his school life, and am so proud of how he's adjusted to the "big boy" classroom: eating at a table, using a spoon, cleaning up after himself, washing his hands, sleeping on a cot, and more!

Here's the latest dose of Landon's art work, all Christmas themed, of course!

"Lan-Don"

Our little man has been a word-explosion the last week or so. One of my favorites came last Monday...check it out:

"Than-Goo"

We sure are trying our best to raise a happy, healthy, and polite little human being. This last week, Landon showed us that our hard work must be paying off in the "polite" category! Unprompted, our little man said "than-goo" after I handed him a fruit snack. I immediately withheld additional fruit snacks, ran inside, grabbed the flip cam, and tried again. He delivered...little man said "than-goo" after every fruit snack I handed him!

Santa, Meet Landon!

We took Landon to the mall on Saturday morning to get his picture taken with Santa. A huge improvement from the meeting they had last year at the CMI Holiday party (see below). When I put Landon on Santa's lap, Santa warned me that he would probably get scared (based on his age)...but our little man looked right up at the bearded fella, smiled (as if saying "hey, nice to meet you"), then smiled adorably at the camera to help us get this great shot! 

2011 CMI Holiday Party