Christmas 2017

Luke was more than excited and tried to start the day at 3:08 AM. He came into our room with the happiest, loud-whisper I have ever heard. "Dad! Mom! He really came! Santa came!" I think he was fairly concerned Santa only packed a lump of coal for him. Once we convinced Luke, Emma and Myles that nothing was going to happen until at least 5:00 AM, Bryan and I went back to sleep for a little while. At exactly 5:00 AM, Luke came back into our room and announced the time along with the promise that we could begin Christmas.
I think I have said this more than a few times this year, but it is so much fun having our kiddos all caught up in the Magic of Christmas. Having them close together definitely brings its own set of challenges, but it's also wonderful in other ways. It makes Christmas morning more fun than I would ever expect at 5:00 AM. :)

I need to capture a better picture of the 

The sugary cereal tradition continues and is a hit every year. We usually do cereal (since we wake up so early), a nicer breakfast (2nd breakfast), casual lunch and then New England Boiled Dinner to supper. 

I need to take a picture of the quilt (behind Emma) that Carrie made for Myles. She makes a quilt for each grandkid. My kids love their quilts. They are so beautiful and meaningful.

While Myles and Bryan were taking an afternoon nap (Emma and I snuck a nap in during the morning), I introduced Luke and Emma to "A Christmas Story." They thought it was pretty funny and there was only one or two things that needed further explanation from me. It was a great, laid-back Christmas. We played games, swung in the hammock, played with our new toys and really enjoyed our own cozy Christmas. We were just missing some of that white stuff outside!

Cheers to a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year. I love that it was on Sunday. We had such a nice Sacrament meeting filled with a variety of musical numbers and the congregation singing along. It was easy to feel the spirit and remember the Savior and think about how the world was about to receive the best gift many years ago.

Our traditional (not so traditional) picture in front of the Christmas Tree in our Sunday best. Love these three.

The kids were in full, Christmas excitement mode. Bryan and I loved it. We delivered our last 12 days of Christmas to a family. The kids were awesome helpers this year from dropping things off to reminding me if we hadn't done it yet that day. As part of our Christmas Eve, we made sugar cookies for Santa and prepped for our Family Party that night.

The kids each opened up a set of new pajamas, a few new family games (Battle Ship and Bey Blades) and a movie. We dined on our favorite appetizers, played lots of games while watching the movie. Once the party was wrapping up, we set out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. We highlighted the night by singing a few Christmas songs and reading the Christmas story from the Bible. We tucked the kids in and waited for the magic to begin.

Christmas Festivities

We took the kids to see Ferdinand and find ourselves quoting it over the break. "I've fallen and I can't giddy-up!" is one of the favorites as well as trying to imitate the horses' accents and dance moves.

Another night, we loaded up the kids and drove to Maverick where we loaded up on hot chocolate and donuts before we drove around checking out Christmas lights. It even started snowing towards the end as we were driving back home. It was just enough snow to make it feel very Christmasy.

This is what happens when your flash goes off in a dark theater. :)