Extended Family Christmas Time

We had one Christmas gathering the week before Christmas with my Zylstra family. It was at noon, and Bella usually takes a nap at 1 so I was a little worried that she would get pretty cranky from being tired. However, she was very good and didn't get too wiped out until later in the afternoon.

All of the Zylstra grandchildren and great-grandchildren- not a fantastic picture, but it was the best one I had! Definitely hard to get that many little kids to sit still.
Bella received a new vacuum from Tatum, who had her for the name exchange. She likes to help use that around the house, although she still pushes around my mop and broom. :) Go figure.
Testing it out!
Peering into her next present- she quickly figured out how to open presents and learned that there is something good inside!
My grandparents got Bella a little doll that has clothes to snap on, so she can actually do it herself, along with a place to store the clothes. We got Bella another doll in her stocking, and that has definitely been a favorite item to play with! She puts the clothes on... then off.. then on again...
I think she was having her doll take a ride in Jager's new tractor. :)
We had our final Christmas gathering the first Sunday in January with my whole Huyser family. That side has even more great-grandkids, so there were lots of little people running around! Here are all the little girls sitting together for a picture. I think Bella is trying to escape at this point.
And here are most of the little girls playing ring around the rosy, led by preschool teacher Grandma Sheri. :) She's always on teaching duty!
Bella made a new best friend- my cousin Erica's little girl Avery, who is 2 months younger than Bella. They were quite obsessed with each other, and Bella kept calling out "Ava! Ava!" It was actually the most interested Bella has ever been with someone her own age. She usually likes older girls to play with!
And here is my Grandpa and Grandma Huyser with all the great-grandkids- an even harder picture to take considering there are at least 5 kids who are 2 and under. It was amusing! Bella had lots of fun playing with all the little girls at this gathering though. It's nice that there are so many who are close together in age.