Christmas Eve

My parents flew in the 23rd and we had a day with just them.

We started a puzzle (by the way, Nonny, all of my family is in love with this board.  It was especially perfect for this week).

My dad taught the kids how to play Crazy 8's.

We braved Toys R Us to go bike shopping for the boys.  It actually was not as crazy as I thought it would be and we had plenty of time and space to test out bikes.  My dad is the bike whisperer and said he would take care of getting the boys all set with the right bike and learning how to ride.  It was certainly a day I know they will never forget.

Notice the rainboots and jacket?  It's rained here several days this week!

We also went to Walmart, which was an entirely different story.  My dad wanted to see what options we had before purchasing bikes and when we got to the bike aisle, it was completely empty (insert shocked face).  So we rushed back to Toys R Us before our good options got snatched up.  Apparently bikes for Christmas is all the rage in Yuma.

Things have been breaking at just the right time and our back door handle snapped off just hours before my parents got here.  My dad fixed it for me and Eli got to help him.

My mom planned some meals and also braved Walmart on Christmas Eve for groceries.  I do believe she had the hardest job of us all.

The rained cleared in the afternoon and left perfect weather to learn how to ride a bike.

Grandma telling him how proud she was of him

I sat outside and watched the whole learning process, which was only about 15 minutes. It was the best things I've ever seen. Once he decided he could ride, it was all over.  He immediately started riding like he always knew how...in true Shear fashion.

My sister and her kids arrived Christmas Eve!

This is a classic picture to me.  Oh, the memories I have as a child sitting on a couch and seeing my dad like this.

The kids hit it off right away and jumped into playing non-stop.  It was hard getting them to bed that night!