Christmas

Christmas was perfect.  I love it every year, but this was one of my favorites. 

Christmas Eve day was relaxing and nice.  We went out as a family for some last minute shopping, had a nice lunch and then did all of our traditional Christmas Eve activities.

Isn't Austin the most adorable Joseph you've ever seen.  I love that Hunter was such a serious donkey, even had the rope in his mouth.  Emma was such a sweet Mary too. 

We enjoyed watching the children act out the nativity while we read from the scriptures and sang the Christmas songs.  It's what Christmas is really all about.

Everyone played a Christmas song, even Austin who has never had a lesson put on a musical performance of his own.  It went on and on and on...

He especially enjoyed leading us in some of the Christmas songs he has been singing at preschool.. "Up on the Housetop", "Santa Clause is coming to Town", etc.

We always open one present, it's always pajamas, the kids always love it!
This year I scored some super cheap PJ's at Walmart for 3 of my 4 kids on black Friday that turned out to be super cheap.  They loved their new angry bird flannel pj's but I was quite disappointed with my purchase.  All of the shirts were a little short and the pants were too long, the pant leg on Austin's pajamas literally unraveled by morning.  The fabric was thin, but apparently warm because both of my boys ended up taking off their shirts - they were too hot.    I learned my lesson.

We ended the evening by writing down our gifts for Jesus and putting them in a special ornament that we hang on the tree.

Jared and I had most of the wrapping done and only one big wheel to put together, but somehow we stayed up til 2 in the morning doing all of the last minute stuff.

Even at the late hour, Santa still did his thing.  

Christmas morning!

Hunter scored 35 lbs. of legoes, which pretty much quadruple his collection!  We might not see him all year.

Jared surprised all of us and got Linsey an iPod touch, he wrapped it in a giant box which added to the excitement and suspense.

Linsey was really excited to give Emma her old DSI for Christmas.

Hunter - some of his favorite gifts are the NIKE shoes and clothes that he is wearing, Legoes, a pellet gun from his dad, and some books and movies. 

Austin made out like a bandit.  He got a cool remote control car, some luggage, and he loved his new big wheel - even though his feet don't quite reach the pedals.  I think his favorite gift of all was a flashlight that Jared gave him.  It lights up and flashes and best of all it has a timer so when he falls asleep with it on, it turns off by itself.

Emma was thrilled with her stash of goodies.  She got the doll bed she was hoping for and was surprised to get a new doll as well.  She loved her "American Doll" from a few Christmas' ago so much that we splurged and decided to get her the real thing.  Here she is with her doll Ella in red (from 2 Christmas' ago) and her new American Doll which she has named Claire.  Super happy!

Linsey had a great Christmas too.  Her new ipod touch is the definite favorite, but she was also pretty thrilled with some new shoes, a jacket she has always wanted, Just Dance 4, and the Hunger Games DVD.  

Just as we were finishing opening up presents, Grandma Jeanne and Papa stopped by for a Christmas visit.  We enjoyed having a nice breakfast together and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and playing with our new toys.  

I failed to take of picture of mine or Jared's stash, but we also did pretty well.  Jared has a friend that works for NIKE and he was able to give us access to the NIKE employee store as well as Columbia where we got to do some 50% off + tax free shopping.  We both got new shoes, jackets, and sports gear.  I even got some super cute snow boots.  

It didn't take long before our kids were off to the neighbors.  It's so fun to share Christmas with their favorite friends.  Everyone was excited to show off their new stuff and they had plenty of fun new things to keep them busy.  Jared snuck in a little nap and then Mat, Bri, Olivia and Hudson stopped by for a visit.   It was really was the perfect Christmas!

Christmas dinner was delicious, Yum!  

We had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing all the rest of our family over the next week!

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

I'm so grateful for our Savior and all that he has done for us.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

       

This year I didn't send out a family picture, or even a letter.  Just a simple photo of my children and our new pet Milo.  We love and cherish all of our family and friends and wish you all Happy Holidays!

 

Linsey 12, Emma 7, Hunter 10, Austin 3

Milo 

5 months old

Feeling Festive

Oh how I love this time of year!  The stockings are hung (we even made one for Milo), the tree is up, presents are wrapped, we have lights on our house, Christmas cards are out... our cookie jar is full, and our house is filled with Christmas music!

I love buying gifts for my family and making goodies for teachers, friends and neighbors.

 

We made sugar cookie kits for our neighbor gift.

 We took the kids to Snowflake Lane thinking this might be their only chance to see snow. 

 

 

My kids love buying gifts for everyone in the family and we've tried several different ideas over the years.  I love that they want to give and I want them to see the joy in giving, but it's hard to let everyone buy for everyone.  Four kids buying 6 gifts each is crazy, and expensive  Going to Target or Walmart was too hard because they all wanted to buy things that were out of the price range we gave them.  The next year we tried the dollar store- the price was right but sometimes you just plain get what you pay for.  We've tried making gifts and while that is a great idea, it's not their favorite.  One year I let them buy things at the school Santa shop and that was a huge mistake.  I couldn't believe the junk they came home with.  Finally we settled on the idea of having everyone draw one name.  We go out as a family and everyone picks out one gift for their person and then we all go out for ice cream. This works great and has become a fun family tradition. 

 

 This year we did our shopping at Bell Square after visiting snowflake lane.  We split up so everyone could keep their surprises.  Linsey and Hunter came with me.

 

 By the time we finished it was quite late so we settled for a quick snack and ice cream at McDonalds.  Jared and I aren't huge fans, but the kids think it's great!

The girls and I went to see the Nutcracker with some friends.   The younger girls all brought their dolls in matching dresses, the older girls had fun chatting and hanging out, and us moms enjoyed visiting and just loved spending time with our girls.  We went to to Olive Garden which is a step up from the usual place we take our kids (Red Robin).  Everyone loved the show and it was such a fun little outing.

I didn't have my camera, but I snapped this shot on my phone just before the show started.

Nothing makes it feel more like Christmas than SNOW!

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year!