Christmas

When I was a kid, Santa always built a barricade in the hallway, probably to keep us from peeking. Every year it seemed a little more elaborate. I seem to remember old tires from the garage and marbles... Often, we couldn't even open our bedroom doors.

This is what my kids woke up to Christmas morning. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that they all slept in the same room together and at 3:15 in the morning I heard someone whispering, "MOM.... MOM". I rushed out into the hallway and I could see little Emma through the handles of the laundry basket.

She asked, "Is it time to open presents yet?"
I said, "No, it's WAY too early."
Instantly, she began sobbing.
Linsey came rushing out to console her, which was nice since I was on the other side of the barricade.
I was a bit surprised to see that Linsey was also awake, but then she told me they were ALL awake because they were just so excited! I guess it's a good thing Santa made that barricade after all.

At 7:00, we finally headed downstairs.

Christmas would not have been Christmas without this dog. Austin kind of thought it was for him. Thankfully, Emma is an expert when it comes to sharing.


It was fun to have Grandma Jeanne and Papa here with us Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
Hunter got a marble castle that required putting together lots of little pieces. He's actually really good at that kind of stuff. Jared and I worked with him here and there, but he did a lot of it all on his own.The girls and their new stuff. (The Kinect was for all the kids.)

Hunter and his gifts.

Austin had fun with his remote control train. It only had two buttons, forward and back. That's my kind of toy.

And my favorite gift of all.... a vacume for the kids to use when they clean their rooms.

Jared spoiled me with a fancy watch to use when I go running, and an iphone. Woo Hoo!

Christmas dinner with my favorite people! What a great day!