The Veldmans: Christmas: Round 2

Christmas, round 2 was a success. We left for IA last Thursday afternoon to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. Nate took a half day of work on Thursday so we were able to get to Grandma & Grandpa Becker's by 6:30, which was very nice since it was very foggy out. Ava was a great passenger both down there and back home. We couldn't ask for a better little girl! She got to stay up late every night that we were in IA so that she could spend some extra time with everybody.

Friday we went to visit Grandma at work and then went to see Aunt Darlene. Aunt Darlene had fallen down her basement stairs on Thursday and broke her wrist so she didn't get to hold Ava. She was pretty sore with bumps and bruises. She'll be having surgery on her wrist on Thursday, so please say a prayer that all goes well. After visiting with her for a little while we went back to Grandma & Grandpa's and Great Grandma Parr came over to visit and play cards. Daddy and Great Grandma did not have a very good game...Grandma and I won by a LOT. That afternoon cousins Anna and Jakob arrived to spend the night. We hadn't seen them since Easter. Shortly after that Lisa, Brent, Zack, and Reece arrived. They were all very happy to get to see Ava, and we were happy to see them.

Saturday was our big celebration day. Uncle Marc and his girlfriend Sara came up from Missouri, and of course Uncle Rick and Aunt Angie were there. We had a wonderful brunch and then got ready to open present. Then Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Terri arrived with more presents for all the kids. This was the first time that Ronnie and Terri got to meet Ava. I'm so that they got to spend a little time together. Ava got lots of fun presents...toys, clothes, books, etc. That afternoon we went to "Grandma Great's" for the Becker Christmas. Ava loved Grandma Great's pulled pork, and Daddy loved Grandma Great's peanut clusters! :) Ava got more fun toys at Grandma Great's.

Sunday morning we went to Aunt Darlene's for our annual "Cousin Christmas". Even though Aunt Darlene had a bum arm, the show went on. It was fun to see everybody even if only for a short period of time. Thank you Aunt Darlene for the gifts and for getting us all together!

We left Grandma & Grandpa Becker's at 12:30. Ava slept a lot of the way home. I can't imagine how exhausted she was after being passed around and staying up late all weekend. We stopped at Nana's in Hollandale on the way home. We could only stop for a short time since we had to get home in time for Ava's dinner, but it was nice to see Nana. Ava got to show off her wounded soldier army crawl. We'll look forward to seeing her in a few weeks for our final Christmas celebration.

The Christmas tree is now bare, as we took off all the ornaments and lights last night. It seems like Christmas came and went so quickly this year. Heck, it seems like the past 10 months have gone so quickly. We hope that you all enjoyed the holidays and that your 2011 is off to a great start!

Great Grandma & Ava. Ava Loved her necklace!

Anna, Ava, Jakob, and Grandma Becker watching the train go around the Christmas tree

Ava loved the book from Grandma & Grandpa. They recorded their voices on it so they are reading the book to her. Please also note the maroon and gold ribbons in Ava's hair. Can you believe that those came from Aunt Lisa & Uncle Brent (die hard hawkeye fans)?!?