Christmas Gifts

On Christmas morning, all 8 adults and 5 kids made it to church on time (of course, it helped that the service was a bit later at 9:30). We enjoyed another great Immanuel service led by Papa with Grammy busy on the organ bench. It was a nice Walquist family tradition to continue-- starting the day first by thanking God for the most precious Gift of all, His Son Jesus.

Following the service, we ate a delicious ham dinner. Grammy and Papa handled all the meal preparations expertly, as they received little help from the rest of us! Then the kids were all off to bed for a nap, and the adults quickly got to work assembling a few Christmas gifts. 

Grammy and Papa decided that their Cozy Coupe truck gift to our boys would be more meaningful if it wasn't still in pieces in the box. The men quickly put it all together, with Sarah & Amy taking special pleasure in sticking on the decals!

Matt and Kim also wanted their shopping cart gift to Abby to be usable right away, so Amy & Matt got to work on this quick assembly.

Of course, Grammy and Papa didn't want any of the kiddos to be left out during the push-toy playtime, so they borrowed a few classic Cozy Coupes from Immanuel's preschool. Doesn't this line-up look exciting?!  

Jason and Uncle Andrew couldn't resist some inner little boy fun playing Monster Trucks. :)

Once the gift assembly was complete, the little ones were actually still asleep, so we were able to exchange some gifts among the adults first.

Surprisingly, as the kids started to wake up one by one, they all relaxed comfortably on their parents' laps, calmly observing the rest of the adult gift opening. We fully understand that this will NEVER happen again at a future Christmas! :) Even Ian, the only one that actually understood the gift-opening concept, didn't complain at all about the wait. He just found other ways to entertain himself. We were VERY impressed with this patient 4 1/2 year old! 

Eventually, though, the kids got their turn too. Cody (with Daddy) and Jaden (with Mommy) still needed some guidance with the unwrapping.

Ryan and Abby got a bit of parental assistance as well.

Big Cousin Ian, however, showed everyone how gift-opening is done.

Cody and Jaden were equally intrigued by the actual gifts AND the wrapping paper.

And, the boys got their first lesson on learning how to share Christmas gifts...

...Cody wasn't AT ALL ready to let Jaden take a turn with his new dump truck! Thankfully, before this tantrum got too heated, wise Aunt Sarah & Uncle Andrew quickly had the boys open box #2 which contained an equally exciting new bulldozer. We're thankful they know how the minds of little twin boys work! :)

Grammy ended the (indoor) gift-opening with a special surprise scavenger hunt for Ian...

...ending with a VERY cool train set (which he quickly informed us all was a "Silverado Express!").

This remote control train occupied many of Ian's free-time hours in Albuquerque!

Ian's little cousins got almost as much joy out of just watching the train.

Of course, the final stage of the gift-opening involved seeing the presents outside. Immediately, the boys ran right up to the new vehicles.

Cody and Jaden (and Ryan, too!) checked out their fancy new truck.

Ryan was particularly enamored with the truck-- quite likely because he was wearing the most appropriate outfit to ride inside such a manly vehicle! 

Jaden and Cody seemed perfectly content, for the time being, to push around their familiar classic Cozy Coupes. 

Somehow, Abby knew that the shopping cart was meant just for her!

With her new bear riding in front, this little girl was ready for some fast action with her new cart!

As you can well imagine, having 4 little one and a half year olds (who were not always very observant or very willing to share the same road), we had a few traffic jams,

a few car wrecks,

and a few tears. In all, though, it was a hilarious experience to watch all these little ones have such a hey-day with their push-toys. They were quite a sight!

Cody and Jaden were sure spoiled with many thoughtful, generous gifts. It was fun to see them start to take a bit more interest in the gifts they received this year. Thanks, family, for all of your kind gifts!