Christmas means family and fun!

The Holiday season in the Rahn house is always fun and you never know what will happen.  This year held true to being full of surprises and adventure. 

One of the highlights of our Rahn Holiday season is the new additions to our "Funky Monkey Band" as the girls and Don have so named it.  This is an obnoxious collection of Holiday noisemakers - or cute, little, dancing creatures of all sizes and types. :)
Here is our collection so far:

And new this year...the girls made a movie of their favorites for all to share and enjoy (and by enjoy, I mean listen to OVER and OVER again as they got it just right).

Our big festivities started with the annual cutting down of our Christmas tree.  We always wait until after Don's birthday (Dec. 7) and then head out to Snicker's Gap Tree Farm to find the "perfect tree."  The girl's love the adventure and running through the hills and hills of trees until we spot IT!

This year a new highlight of our tree adventure was "Stump Standing."  Leave it to Don Rahn to find fun and make a new game anywhere we go...

Then IT appeared and we had to being the job of cutting it down...both girls helped and soon our Tree of 2011 was being dragged through the hills and valleys back to our car.

 

 It wouldn't be Christmas without the Annual Dogs In Front of the Tree pictures:

Then comes Christmas Eve and the family pics in front of the tree:

 Junior is not moving until Santa gets here...

Christmas morning brings early risers, presents at our house and then....

off we go to Rocky and Rina's house for our BIG family Christmas!  We are usually on the road to find the family before 7:30 a.m. and this year was no different.  It helps that the girls are usually up at 5:00 waiting for us to go see what Santa has brought.....

 Yep, they are up early and very excited...but crash on the short drive to Ashburn...

Christmas with Virginia family is always crazy. This year we all gathered in Ashburn at Laura's parents house...those present incuded - 4 Rahns, 2 Bernardos, 2 Wests, Rosie, Chrissy, Gwen and Dave and Jen.  Lots of fun.....

Katie was thrilled to receive her own set of pink cooking utensils and a shirt to match.

Carleigh loved her new cell phone:

But the highlight of the gifts was when Rina received a case of A&W Root Beer from Lily and Junior.  There's a long back-story there that makes the moment even funnier....

Don also LOVED his new sweatshirt:
 

The highlight of our Christmas time together is not the gifts, but the fun times with family and we had our share on Christmas Day.

After a full Christmas Day - we usually head back to Purcellville to pack up and head to Erie on the 26th to spend time with Don's family.  Don, Carleigh and Katie headed north this year and I stayed back for dog duty.

They definitely had an equal amount of crazy fun up in Erie.

So...the Christmas fun has come and gone. 

We are looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.  Vacation planning is in full swing and some new trips are popping up as I type. The January calendar has been filled in and the days are busy with basketball, dance, piano, and Annie rehearsals.

So....Seldom A Dull Moment continues as the new year approaches!! 

Happy New Year!

Stay tuned as Junior and I continue to plan our new adventures...