the jerksons: Christmas Season 2011

We had a great Christmas season this year. It was a busy time of year filled with a visit to see Santa (that went much better than last year), tree trimming, family celebrations, visits with good friends, and birthday festivities.

This year, Santa knew what he was doing when it came to having little ones sit on his lap. Santa told us that we'd all sit down with him and get a few pictures and then each of the parents would slink away, leaving only Luke sitting on Santa's lap. It worked great! You can tell that Luke still wasn't 100% comfortable sitting on his lap, but it was a vast improvement over last year! Then of course, Luke talked about it for days and days afterward!

The whole family posing with the jolly old elf.

Luke giving his best "cheese" while slightly uncomfortable being the only one left with Santa.

Loving the tree and all the decorations (this tree looks a little small in the space we have now, but it was a perfect tree for our condo). :)

Johnson Family Christmas celebration at our house. All the cousins posing for the camera.

Upon our arrival to Georgia, Luke needed to unwind with a good guitar duet with his Gramps.

Luke also got a little Georgia cousin time. He loves Anna, Ella, and KK and says their names in that order like they are one person. :)

We took a day trip to visit the Bridges family in Greenville, SC. Luke and Will had a nice time visiting and having a good ol' snack of animal crackers together while bonding over the fish the Bridges were "fish sitting."

On Christmas Eve we went to church and Luke sat with us through the entire service. He really enjoyed watching everyone and "singing" Christmas music. His favorite part was when we celebrated Jesus' birth by singing "Silent Night" by candle light (my favorite part too).

Luke finishing out the advent calendar by putting baby Jesus in his bed of hay on Christmas Eve night.

Posing for the camera one more time with Gram and Gramps before bed time.

Christmas day present extravaganza!

The day after Christmas we spent part of the day at the firehouse that Gramps volunteers for. It's always a highlight for Luke to get to see the firetrucks up close and personal. He loves it!