After a quick breakfast, Gavin headed downstairs to see what Santa left in his stocking before the rest of the family arrived. Gavin must be on Santa's list of good little boys because he filled the stocking with 17 Matchbox cars and trucks! Wow!

 

After pulling each car from the stocking one-by-one, Gavin transported them two-by-two to their new home on the window sill (where all toy vehicles belong, according to Gavin).

 

Cinnamon roll break! I first made Alton Brown's cinnamon roll recipe for Thanksgiving and they are now officially a holiday tradition we must continue for years to come! They are divine! Melt-in-your-mouth sugary, cinnamony goodness - the perfect companion for gift opening on Christmas morning!

 

Gavin helped Daddy open his new Duplo recycling truck from his Highsmith grandparents.

 

A truck... made out of LEGOs! Oh, boy!

 

The new truck joined the other new vehicles on the window sill.

 

Gmummy and Aunt Kristen ... yes, there were other people there on Christmas morning, believe it or not!

 

Gmummy's "Handy Manny Christmas" for Gavin began with Flicker, the real working flashlight!

 

I think he liked it...

 

What is it about boys and flashlights? They're so fascinating!

 

Gavin opened a recycling truck made out of recycled plastic from Aunt Cindy and promptly placed it, you guessed it, on the window sill!

 

Baby Brother's first Christmas presents...

 

... and Baby's First Christmas tree ornament.

 

After opening Fabian Escapes, a sequel to one of Gavin's favorite books, he had to read it right away.

 

Then, the Handy Manny Christmas continued...

 

Handy Manny, himself!

 

Oh, yeah. The rest of us were opening presents, too. Aunt Kristen opened a package while wearing her new slippers.

 

But, back to Gavin... ;) A toolbox filled with all of Handy Manny's herramientas...

 

This is why I never ask Gavin to smile at the camera...

 

Gavin's last present was his "big gift" from Mommy and Daddy - a train set. First, he picked all of the train cars out of the box. Do I even need to say where he put them?

 

Daddy set up most of the track, but we need to take down our tree so there is more floor space in the living room!

 

Gavin and Grandpa played with the train for a while...

 

Gavin thinks his cars drive on the track just as well as the train...

 

Gift opening complete, Gmummy and Aunt Kristen sat down to play a new card game.

 

Gavin stuffed his recycled recycling truck with Matchbox cars...

 

Gavin missed his second consecutive holiday meal (not that he would have eaten any of it anyway) when he took a nap shortly after noon. The rest of us munched on Aunt Kristen's lasagna rolls, Gmummy's salad, and Mommy's rosemary bread. Holiday dinners are great when you split up the cooking!

 

Jeff brewed some coffee with his new coffee-making gadgets. I have yet to decide whether he is a coffee snob, a coffee geek, or perhaps a little bit of both!

 

Fast-forward a few hours... We all headed over to GGma and GGpa's place for cookies and a game. Then, we took Gauntie Faye with us back to Gmummy and Grandpa's house for the evening. Gavin had fun chasing Aunt Kristen again (video-taping in progress).

 

Gavin has a new habit of trying on grown-ups' shoes. Here, he takes Aunt Kristen's shoes for a walk.

 

After a simple homemade soup dinner, Gmummy, Mommy, Daddy, and Gauntie Faye sat down for a game of Settlers of Catan. Gavin climbed onto the chair at the end of the table and started unloading the Hershey Kisses bowl, meticulously placing the candies in a line.

 

When Aunt Kristen left, Gavin blew her a kiss...

 

... and got right back to his chocolate Kisses...

 

... until he got a phone call. It was Monkey calling from his crib at home. "It's bedtime, Master Gavin!"

 

So, we left when our game was over and Gavin finally settled down for bedtime at 10:00 - his longest day in quite some time! It was a Merry Christmas, indeed!