A new walker, a new laptop, two new DSis, and SNOW ... what a Christmas!

I could write pages and pages, but today I'm going to try to do the OPPOSITE of what I usually do. I'm gonna try to use fewer words to get my point across and hope it's sufficient. I felt convicted recently when I read, "Inside every fat blog post is a skinny blog post just dying to get out." I tend to be a bit wordy, you know, but I'm gonna give it my best shot as I explain some of the milestones we experienced over the weekend.

What a Christmas it was, Internet. The End. Just kidding.

I wanted to give Patrice a chance to blog about it first, so I didn't tell you the other night that Jonah walked for the first time on Christmas Eve! I can't tell you how excited we all were ... I was as excited to see him do it as I was when our own boys all took their first steps. Patrice posted a few videos my dad made on his iPhone over on her blog if you'd like to see them.

Jake feels like he's finally entered the 21st century because he received his very own DSiXL as a gift from my parents on Christmas night. And he has been glued to it ever since. Seriously. I've been watching him closely for signs of seizures from all the visual stimulation. But YOU try taking it away from him. Yikes. Not a job for the faint-hearted.

Nathaniel is as proud as he's ever been now that he's saved up for and bought his own laptop computer. He snagged it at Best Buy yesterday during the after-Christmas sale, and he can't wait to set it up and start using it. I'm so proud of him for making this happen.

Nathaniel also received a DSiXL from my parents, which replaced the used DS Lite he bought early in the year. He was so excited about it and immediately wanted to give his DS Lite to Grant, Kim and Andrew's eldest. He asked Kim's permission to offer it to Grant, and now Grant is the proud owner of the blue DS Lite. I was even prouder of him for this gesture than I was about him saving up for the laptop! I love his generous heart.

And finally, although we didn't have a White Christmas, we DID have a White Day After Christmas, which was just as much fun. I don't think our little family has ever had snow during Christmas break, so it made for a memorable day!

Unfortunately, the snow wreaked havoc on our plans to all pile in vans and drive to Winston-Salem to meet up with the rest of Grayson's extended family, but we enjoyed getting an extra day to hang out at Debbie and Gerry's house and visit play on our electronics. Patrice and I got in a game of Scrabble on my iPad, and then Kim and I played a game, too. And of course the kids got in multiple games of Angry Birds.

Kim, Patrice and I even made time for an outing to Target ... our FAVORITE place to shop.

Spending time with all the wonderful branches of our family really makes the holidays special. We were surrounded by so much love -- if the decibel level in the house was any indication, it was a LOT OF LOVE -- and I MUST leave you with pictures of the Sweetest Tea Party of all Time. Jake and Jonah. OMG, I dare you not to smile.

Happy new year to all.