Christmas may only come once a year, but that doesn't mean it only lasts a day. Especially since we live far, far away from all of our relatives. My aunt and uncle that live in Oklahoma send us Christmas presents every year, without fail. This year was obviously no exception, but the present for Thomas came separately, so he got to have another chance at opening a present!

Look at this awesome tool bench they sent him! He was sooooo excited and his dad couldn't get it put together fast enough for the little guy. He already has assorted toy tools and a tool box, so this was a nice addition to the collection. I think the only thing he is lacking is a tool belt - I'll try to remember that for his birthday... "/

I'll go ahead and admit that his favorite part *might* have been the toy cell phone. He was so concerned that it wasn't working and that we needed to go find batteries for it. We finally convinced him that it was for pretend and he seemed to accept that. Once that was resolved, he was happy to move on to playing with the vise, putting screws in the table and moving gears around. Whew - crisis averted!

Of course he was slightly distracted by all the photos momma was taking because I got a new play toy...

That's not technically it... But it looks just like it! My early birthday present from Matt was a new flash - the same version as the one I was renting and fell in love with. And since I had two for a day, I was playing with using one off camera to see how well it worked (perfectly!) and how big of a difference it made in lighting to have two (moderate...). I'm pretty excited about being able to control the lighting more in the house. Especially if it means more cute photos of the boys! :)

And thanks for the awesome Christmas presents, Aunt Barbie and Uncle Ralph! As always, we appreciate you thinking of us! I'm still working on teaching Thomas to write thank you cards, so when we get around to mailing it, don't be surprised if it looks suspiciously like random scribbles... ;)