Christmastime with the Monsons...

Christmas was so fun! We went home to Washington, had a much-needed break and spent some wonderful, quality time with family! I really can't describe how great it was. After some days of warming up to people and getting adjusted to west coast time, Braden had a lot of fun with Gma and Gpa! Justin and I even got to go on a few dates and to the temple - which was amazing! It has been a while since Justin and I got out without Braden, and it was nice to know he was in good hands and having fun playing while we were gone. It was heavenly!

Braden loved having stairs around to climb - Justin and I are very happy that we don't have stairs in our small little home to worry about! He constantly wanted to be on the stairs. Luckily he only fell down them once, and even then it was only a few. I thought maybe after that he would be a little more timid about them, but after a minute of consoling he grabbed Grandma's hands and started walking down them like nothing had happened. Definitely his father's child. :)
Grandpa was Braden's bud and would play one of his favorite games - get a ball and throw it down the stairs. Then sit and point at it and call out until someone downstairs came and got it and threw it back up to them. He did this for a long time, and Grandpa was just happy to be there for it all! It is a lot of fun to see my parents as grandparents.

Grandma and Braden snuggling before bedtime. They had a great time together - building block towers and knocking them down, dancing to the "clap-on" music box, and most of all eating homemade chocolates and bits of Oreos. It's a tradition in my mom's family that if you are a Grandma, you always have Oreos on hand. The tradition continues and I'm sure my kids will grow up loving it just as much as I did!
It was the best Christmas break! Thanks so much Mom and Dad for spoiling us all and making some great memories! We love you!

We took more pictures, but sadly they are on my parent's camera, so maybe I'll get them in the future and put them up. We did get some fun videos though: