Christmas at the Battermann's

It has always worked out so nice that we spend Christmas Eve with John's side of the family and Christmas Day with my side of the family.  So, we drove up to the Battermann's on Dec. 23rd.  For those of you not in the Chicago area - the weather and roads were just awful here in Chicago and we had debated not risking it (since we have Logan, a precious gem with us), but decided late (around 10pm) to head up there.  We got on the road at 10:30 and made it safe and sound at John's parents house around 2:45am...whew!  It normally takes about 3 hours - give 15 minutes depending....but this time was 4 hours, 15 minutes...ack!  And through the dark of the night nonetheless.  But we got there and Dorene and Bill were up waiting for us and they greeted us, took Logan and made googly eyes at him - and he made them right back at them with a few smiles too!  They were very excited.  :)  (Logan is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents on both sides...despite the fact that he's the 5th grandchild on the Battermann side and 6th on the Madorma side!)

Our Christmas Eve day was a bit different this year...Brittany Battermann (sis-in-law) is a teacher at a school in Milwaukee and her school kids were singing at their Christmas service - so they had to leave early.  And John and I wanted to start our own traditions with Logan on Christmas Eve at our house, so we left early as well.  Therefore, Dorene was kind enough to make 2 big meals for whichever family members were able to make it at that time.  We had brunch with most of the family..then when everybody was there we did our Adult Christmas Exchange.  We each took some of the money that we usually spent on the gift and gave it to their Church's food pantry - Meghan's idea and a great one at that!  We also decided no 'gag' gifts this year (which can be hard as somebody's gift may be gold to one person and a 'gag' to somebody else, however it is still better than receiving a screeching cat in a bag - yes that was the gift I received my first Christmas at the Battermann's - hilarious at the time, but then what?).  For the most part I think everybody did okay.  I got food...which I ended up giving to the Church Food pantry and John got a tan chenille throw - which I have used every single day since then.  :)  

After the 'exchange', Brittany and Andy left...and the rest of us played a game or just hung out until church.  Alex and Ashley are still in the Christmas Children's service, however it was Ashley's last year since she goes to high school next year.  They both did great! 

We all raced home and ate dinner (another great meal by Dorene) then exchanged the rest of the gifts.  Logan really made out...and from the pictures below you can see how much he thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas gift opening (he slept).  But we really appreciated all the gifts he got and he will use them all within the next year...and will be excited about them!

Gift opening came and went in a flash...and we were able to pack up and go by 7:45p.

I drove on the way home (since John drove through the night the night before and did a great job of staying awake even though he was exhausted!).  Although about 2/3 of the way home I decided I was too tired and we switched drivers.  I pulled off at what I thought was a decent location.  However, we pulled into a poorly lit parking lot by a closed 'little store'.  As I put the car into park, I looked up and saw a car parked about 20 feet away...behind that car was a 'man' in a Santa hat.  I told John and we both thought it was extremely creepy...and kind of horror-movie-ish...so we 'peeled' out of there & went to the next well-lit exit to switch drivers.  On the way, we noticed that the creepy 'man' was in fact a statue.  hahaha!  But still creepy!

We arrived safe at home around 11:30ish.

That, in a nutshell was Christmas at the Battermann's.  Below are some pics:

Logan on Bill's lap with his hand on Santa (his tie)

Sleeping...(go figure)

Logan in his Christmas outfit with cousin Brittany & Auntie Sandy...

Logan with his cousin Alex (only boy cousin - so far - on the Battermann side)

All the Battermann dogs dressed in their Christmas best!

Buddy in his Pajama Gram!

Logan chillin' with his Uncle Troy

A cute pic of Paula & Dave

Buddy & his loot....

Logan & his loot.....(gee Buddy - not fair is it??  hahaha)

Logan with Grandpa Santa :)  (it was sweet...Bill really wanted this pic...)

Logan with his cousins Brittany & Ashley - who are never tired of posing for a pic!

Giving their new cuz a kiss...

Brittany and I...

All the Battermann cousins in their new 'fleece' jackets Grandma got them (Logan's was not only too big to wear his just yet, but it was already packed in the car when we took this picture)

Logan staring up at his cousin Meghan with a smile... :)

Haha...my friend Abbey got Logan this cool hat...however, his head is already too big for it...so I smooshed it down as far as I could get it just for this cute pic...however it looks kinda funny!

A very nice picture of the Battermann cousins

(Ashley-14, Logan-7wks, Meghan-16, Alex-8, Brittany-17)