Carlson Family Christmas in Wisconsin

On Sunday, December 28, we celebrated Christmas with the Carlson family. There are 44 (including 12 great grandchildren) of us in the immediate family now so getting anywhere close to all of us together is quite an adventure and a lot of fun. :) We were also fortunate to have several extended family members come. We had a wonderful time with everyone and can't wait to see you all again! :)
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Great Aunt Pat and Kennedy

Great Aunt Carla with Kennedy

Great Aunt Arla reading to Reagan and Kennedy

Brittany and Reagan being silly and eating snacks

Lily (3 1/2yr - in black top - Jodi's oldest daughter - Carla's granddaughter), Eleanor (3 1/2yr - in white top - Ryan's oldest daughter - Carla's granddaughter), and Reagan (1/2 yr)

Lily (3 1/2 yr) and Daniel (1 1/2 yr - Jodi's two oldest children) checking out Brittany's new puppy named Samson

Jared and Lydia (engaged on New Years Eve - Congratulations!!!) feeding Kennedy

Julie and Amber (2 mon)

Sophia (1 mon) - Jodi's new baby

Jared and Brittany stealing everyone's favorite swiss cheese dip

Reagan having a great time with Aunt Arla

Reagan coming down the stairs in such a ladylike fashion...

Sharing cookies with Aunt Arla and Uncle Scott

Grandpa Carlson's brother, Great Great Uncle Dale, and Kolton (3 1/2 - Nathan's son and Uncle Phil's grandson) talking on the phone to one of Santa's elves aka Aunt Sherry/Grammy. This is hilarious and I only wish I could figure out how to upload a video from last year or this year for everyone to enjoy lol :)

Jodi with Goddaughter Amber (2 mon - Julie's baby)

Brittany and Kolton (3 1/2 yr)

Karoline and Peter (1 1/2 yr - Ryan's wife and son)

Brittany, Gina (Nathan's wife & Kolton's mom), and Anna

Sorry these pictures aren't ordered in the most logical way. Again, I just have so many and for these I was sorting through not only mine but also Dad's and Aunt Arla's pictures. Hopefully you're all able to make some sense of who everyone is! If you have any questions, feel free to ask/comment and I'll get back to you. :)

More Cute Wisconsin Pictures

Here are Arla and Brittany's three dogs in Christmas attire - Sidon, Samson, and Delilah

Reagan checking out Brittany's new puppy Samson

I believe this might be one of Pa's favorite pictures/stories from our holiday travels. I thought this looked like it might be a sweet picture so I asked Reagan to lean back on Pa. Amazingly she complied! No sooner had I started to say how good she was and snap the picture than she spit water everywhere (you can see it going down her chin). Pa thought it was so funny because I apparently said something to this effect "Reagan you're such a good girl. No! Stop that! You're being naughty!" all in one breath.

A new puzzler in the making

Playing animals with cousins Daniel (21 mon) and Lily (3 1/2 yr)

Uncle Scott and Reagan reading a book

While we were packing Uncle Scott was keeping Reagan busy upstairs for us. When I came up to snap a picture of them playing together we discovered he had accidentally given Reagan a couple of the gifts Grammy had meant for Reagan as surprises while we were traveling the next day. Needless to say we all thought it was pretty funny. lol :)

Reagan reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to Uncle Scott

Uncle Scott reading "Baby Bear Baby Bear" while Reagan has moved on to a couple of Great Grandma's romance novels

Reagan demonstrating how she can fit two pacis in her mouth at the same time

Great Grandma LaBar in Michigan

Grammy, Pa, Reagan, Kennedy and I left late Christmas night and drove through the night to arrive in Union City, Michigan to visit Great Grandma LaBar on December 26. We also had the pleasure of getting to see Great Uncle George and Aunt Joan who were also visiting. We wish our visit could have been longer but we enjoyed our time with all three of them (and the puppies - see below).

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4 Generation picture - Anna, Great Grandma & Kennedy (1 mon), and Pa

Great Grandma held Kennedy for a long time that first afternoon and Kennedy obviously enjoyed her time with her Great Grandma

This was the only picture I could catch of both girls with Great Grandma because I couldn't get one of my daughters to sit still and pose... lol :)

Reagan "sharing" Great Grandma's chocolate ice cream

Reagan playing with and lining up her animals and engines

Great Aunt Joan holding Kennedy in the award winning quilt she gave Kennedy as a baby gift - thank you so much for such a colorful and special gift! :)

Aunt Joan and Reagan enjoying a book together

Before we headed to Wisconsin we went to visit Great Grandma one more time. Reagan is sharing her Kix cereal (one of our favorite portable snacks) with Great Grandma.

Reagan found a large snowman to love while we were visiting with Great Grandma :)

Great Uncle George, Aunt Joan, Rosie and Rascal in Michigan

Even though Great Uncle David and Aunt Jolene were in Montana they graciously let us stay in their home along with Great Uncle George and Aunt Joan while we were in Michigan. This was the first time we had been able to see Uncle George and Aunt Joan since Reagan was born. While they may have been the last great aunt and uncle to meet Reagan we are happy to say they were the very first to meet Kennedy! :)

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One of Reagan's very favorite parts of our entire trip was playing with Uncle George and Aunt Joan's puppies, Rosie and Rascal. As evidence of how much Reagan loved them I showed her these pictures tonight and asked her what the puppies names were and she was able to immediately reply with the correct names. Since that was a month ago they obviously made quite an impression on her! Reagan loved those wild and crazy puppies!!! :)

Two wiped out puppies

Eating M&Ms with Uncle George

Reagan's first experience with snowballs

Christmas Day in DC

Merry Christmas everyone! Even if it's late we hope you all made many wonderful memories with family and friends!

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The Lueker Family posing by the Advent Calendar Great Aunt Joan made for Andrew and me when we were little. Reagan loved it this year and we look forward to it being a part of our family holiday traditions for many years to come! :)

Kennedy's primary gift this year was her Bitty Baby - you can tell how excited she was :)
Reagan's primary gift was Thomas and boy has she enjoyed all the tracks and engines she received from Santa, Grammy & Pa, and Grandma & Grandpa

Aunt Kim and Uncle Nathan came to celebrate Christmas with us

They also brought along a gift or two for the girls :)