Holiday round-up

Whoopsie! I forgot to post these before the January ones. Enjoy!

Helping Mama make a cranberry garland

Our Tree

New Elmojamas and tool belt from Santa

Ear protection first!!

Playing Santa at Oma & Grandpa's

It's ART!

We're working on a praaahjeck, Mama.

Dancin' at Music with Mar

Watch my moves!

Two of his favorites - the "pull thing" and Lion's Club broom

Reading with Granna

Bennett's first full length movie in a theatre - The Muppets

 All in all - a GREAT holiday season for the Allman family. We had a lovely Christmas morning at home and then packed up to go to Canada for the Haupert family celebration on Boxing Day. Bennett really enjoyed playing with his older cousins, and Blythe & Brian had a good time catching up with their parents. And what a yummy dinner we shared in the basement. That was a lot of fun - especially the "poppers"! Bennett loves the gifts he got from Oma and Grandpa - Big Bird, Cookie Monster AND Snuffy. As a matter of fact, they each have a place of honor in the big boy bed. We also got a chance to skype with Brian's brother, Trevor and his wife, Cindy. It's always so nice to see everyone. I love that we have the technology to connect with loved ones so far away.

Two days later, Granna and Daddy-o arrived by car and plane and then Uncle Ben the next day. Bennett really enjoyed going to the airport to pick Ben up. Later in the week, when we asked Bennett where Uncle Ben lives, he said, "airport!" Almost, buddy.

We made fun Christmas memories with the "farts", which Bennett, Brian, Daddy-o and Uncle Ben each received in their stockings. Bennett also really enjoyed two name tag holders that Santa brought for him. Santa seems to know just what a two year old boy will love.

We took several fun "field trips" while my family was in town. The Darwin Martin House is a local architectural gem created by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is currently being restored so it was fun to see some behind the scenes things. Bennett was much better behaved in there than I thought he would be. We also went to see Niagara Falls. When we started our trek, the sun was out. By the end of our walk to the falls, the clouds had rolled in and we were all soaked to the bone!

And last but certainly not least, we took Bennett to see his first feature length film IN a movie theatre. The Muppet Show was still showing at one of our second run theatres, so we took in a matinee and the movie was good, but that was secondary to how much Bennett seemed to enjoy it. We were all impressed that he sat still for all but the last twenty minutes, when he stood up but didn't wiggle or complain too much. He didn't really like the guy who played the villain, but otherwise, he fell in love with Kermit and friends. Yay!

Thanks to all of you for making our holidays so memorable!