Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas! I LOVE Christmas! Especially with kids... it's so fun to get caught up in their excitement and the magic with them.

We began our day with a new tradition: yelling at Adam to go back to sleep because it was 3:00am.

Not really.

(Kinda)

Once the sun had risen, we all met in the kids' room, and read I Believe in Santa Claus.

My Santa Soapbox: I'm a huge Santa fan. I believe in Santa Claus and my kids will never hear me say that I don't. Because I do, and I always will. I don't think that Santa takes the Christ out of Christmas; rather, I think that Santa is a perfect example of the Savior and a symbol of Christmas.

Just how I feel.

Anyways, this books is a perfect way to merge the two, and I love it. We talked about Santa and Jesus' birth, and how we can be Christ-like. After we read the book, we knelt for family prayer.


We went into the hallway and got ready to run through the wrapping paper covering the doorway. This is a fun tradition that we've been doing for several years. The kids think it's so fun, but really, I'm selfish and I want to see the look on their faces when they first see the magic that has taken place (and if they sneak out beforehand, I will miss it). Josh was so sleepy, so we went ahead and ran through our Christmas wrapping covering the living room without him. Next year, buddy!


The kids' ran through the paper and saw their loot from Santa: stockings, root beer, a favorite cereal, and a gift!




Adam opened his gift from Santa first: Lego City fire rescue helicopter!


Grace got a Littlest Pet Shop set:


After we opened the gifts from Santa, they played together for awhile.


And we had our traditional breakfast. SO good!


We finally went and woke up Josh at about 11:00! Stinker! He had so much fun and was so excited. He got a Little People Barn.



He got apple juice, no root beer.

So, he stole Grace's.

We played and napped for a few hours, and then opened the gifts from us. Grace got the "horse head on a stick" (stick horse) that she's been wanting, and I made her a puppet theatre in a bag. Adam got a model rocket and an airplane. Josh got some bath toys and a felt dinosaur playmat that I made.




Later we opened gifts from family. Adam got science books and a gift certificate to his favorite marble shop from Grammy and Papa!

Grace got some Fancy Nancy books and a tea set from Grammy and Papa.


And apparently I didn't take any pictures of Josh. Sorry, buddy! We got lots of fun gifts from Nano, and stockings from Grammy and Papa, too.

Every year my Grandma picks out the cutest ornaments for us. Here the family is with them:


Adam got a fun weather station, Grace got a Littlest Pet Shop toy, and Josh got a shape firetruck sorter from Grandma and Grandpa W*. They were SO excited! (Apparently Mike wasn't... look alive there!)


Grace and Josh opened their gifts from their cousins in the W* cousin exchange. And then we opened our gifts in the R* family exchange. We tried to take it all slowly and in rounds so that it wasn't all "presents" and we tried to talk about who gave them to us, and how kind that was. I'm so sorry that I didn't take pictures of all of the nice gifts that were given to us by family. It was a crazy day! We really loved and appreciated them all! Thank you!!!

I didn't take any pictures, but we had "roast beast" (roast beef) sandwiches, chips, and veggies for dinner while we watched The Christmas Story.

It was a wonderful day! I LOVE Christmas with our little family! I love being able to relax and have fun, and focus on our love for the Savior and His birth. Such a fun Christmas! We are so blessed.