Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas morning came early at our house. I have a confession to make, I was the first one up. I was so excited about what the kids would think and say on Christmas morning that I was up with that excited anticipation at 5! Dallin was the first one up at 6. He was sorely disappointed that he had to wait for everyone to be ready before going downstairs to see if Santa had left him some toys. This was made even harder since Kate decided to sleep in until 7:30!! I played board games with Dallin, read books, helped him get ready, got ready myself, and watched some Land Before Time. It was a terribly loooong wait for a very excited little boy, but he did it!
Christopher went down first to see if Santa had come (and to turn on some Christmas music and get the video camera ready). Sure enough, Santa had been there and eaten his cookies and drank up all his milk. Then the kids raced down the stairs to see what was there. The way things were left, mine and Christopher's stockings and the things for the pets were at the base of the stairs (Dallin and Kate's things were on the opposite side of the room (not so easily seen coming down the stairs). This made for a very sad moment for Dallin (but pretty darn funny for the rest of us) when he came downstairs and thought that Santa had not left him anything. His little face just fell as he looked at the stockings (none of which were his) and kept saying over and over "Santa didn't bring me ANYTHING!? Not anything!?" After several minutes, he finally turned around, saw his things and lit right up. It was so hard not to say anything and wait for him to discover it himself. Christopher got it from the front with the video camera and it is hilarious. I got the video from behind with the camera.
The kids were thrilled with the wonderful gifts Santa had brought them. They were pretty good this year all in all :) Dallin got his Handy Manny toolbench. Here he is with his Santa stash. And Kate got her play kitchen. Here she with her Christmas morning loot. They played and played with the toys. Here is Dallin dressed up as Handy Manny with his new toolbelt set. After a while, they dug through their stockings and uncovered many fun little trinkets and toys (apparently Santa is a big fan of the $store). Here is Kate stuffing her face full of chocolate. It is a good thing that Santa only put a few pieces in there. They were ALL gone in seconds. This girl is a sugar fiend. She has replaced all food groups with sugar....the holidays have not been good for her. I'm afraid the New Year will be a rude awakening. LOL The stockings are so great because they are big and when the kids dig in them, it looks like they are going to get lost in there. LOLSanta even filled stockings for Mommy and Daddy and the pets. Hey...we were REALLY good this year :) The kids enjoyed helping us unpack our stockings tooDallin went through all his presents from Santa quickly and was ready to rip through everything under the tree right away. Kate, on the other hand, was content to play with what Santa had brought and seemed obilvious to the fact that other presents were under the tree. After making Dallin wait for a while, we began opening the gifts under the tree.
Kate got a pop-on princess doll. They are put out by Fisher Price and I love them because the outfits snap on and off so it is easy for little girls to do. And the princess one had her name all over it! lol Dallin got a doctor kit, which had to be used right away since apparently Christopher was "off the chart!" according to Dallin and needed immediate medical attention. Both kids got a fun dressup costume too. At our house, we dress up year round. So they were so excited to get something new and they put it on right away (of course) Dallin got this sweet superman costume with cape. It was a little big, but that means more play time! Kate got a really cute Cinderella dress with "glass slippers" She looks just precious in it and wore it the rest of Christmas day. I have to brag a little bit here and say that I got the entire thing (including the shoes) for $4! I am such an awesome shopper! I love the expression on her face in this picture and how she is admiring her glass slippers. Priceless...and oh so Kate! lol
Both kids got their own copy of the Book of Mormon. So no more fighting over who gets one at family scripture study! YAY! They got a fun Candy Land Castle game from Grandma and Grandpa along with some fun leapfrog toys which they have barely put down!
It was a lot of fun seeing the expressions on everyone's faces when they unwrapped their surprises. We didn't get pictures of all of them....we were really blessed by our friends and family :) This year Christopher and I made it a point to get gifts for each other. Christopher got me something really sweet.
Yep...it's a puppy. I named her Macy. I actually got her a couple of days before Christmas. Anyone who has known me sometime knows I owned dogs earlier in our marriage. I have missed my "Tiny" (50 pounds...lol) terribly and would still search for her. So, Christopher called the landlord and made it happen....I have a dog again. She is a terrier mix (with a bunch of other stuff). Her mom was only 12 pounds pregnant so we are hoping she won't get too big. It seems she will be an average sized dog and I am happy to have her. Also, this year the kids bought presents for Christopher and I and also each other. It was really sweet seeing them practically burst with excitement over picking the perfect gift and wrapping it and then watch them struggling to keep it a secret. They were very proud to give their gifts on Christmas morning. Kate hit it completely out of the park with her gift to Dallin. It was a pretty realistic toy trumpet. You can actually play it. It is plastic even though it looks real, and the price was very nice! Dallin has thanked her repeatedly and she beams and says "yo welcome!" Dallin got daddy his own saw. I was really proud of him because he came up with the idea all by himself. He somehow remembered that last year Christopher had to borrow a saw from the neighbor to cut our Christmas tree and so he wanted to get him his own. He told Christopher a million times "you remember that you had to borrow a saw from a neighbor because you didn't have a saw? I want to tell you what I got you!" I thought he was going to explode. So I am pretty sure that Christopher knew, but he acted surprised and he was definitely touched. Kate got me a star necklace and earring set. I really love stars so this was a great choice for me. I loved how happy she was when she gave it to me and will remember that every time I wear it.
Later in the afternoon, we went to Nana and Papas house for a delicious Christmas dinner and more presents!!! The Old Settlers Ward elders live with my parents and we really enjoy having them around. My kids really love them and the elders are always so wonderful with them. The only downside is how much we inevitably miss them when they transfer out. Here is Elder Lund holding Kate while Christopher was looking for his present.
Yep you read that right....I said "looking for his present". Christopher only got one gift this year so the elders set up a scavenger hunt to stretch out his "special" time. lol Here he is with one of his clues
Looking inside...
Looking outside....
Was it worth it!? Oh YEAH! He ended up with a PS3!!!!!! (with 2 bonus game and a blu-ray!). He was/is one happy boy!
My mom made each grandchild their own quilt this year. So all of her gifts to them were along that "theme". Dallin got Cars. Kate got princesses (and Madison got Dora for inquiring minds). The kids LOVED their quilts. They sleep with them every night. But I was especially surprised by Dallin's reaction.At first he said nothing and set it aside. My mom thought it was a total bust. But within a few minutes he was playing with the ties and sucking his thumb. He wallered all over it saying "blankie! blankie! i love you! i got a new blankie!" He has taken it everywhere with him. It is just precious. He still insists on sleeping with the blue blanket/rag at night along with the new one but it no longer travels which is a blessing for all! Here are the kids playing with their voice changing microphones they got from Uncle MichaelThey totally loved them. (He also got them each 25 for college savings....but when you are 2 and 4, the microphone is waaaay cooler...lol) Thanks Uncle Michael! My mom got each of the grandkids one of the "If You Give..." books with the accompanying animal. I was very surprised about how excited they were. They always enjoy books, but they were just ecstatic about the matching animals (especially Kate who got "If you Give a Cat a Cupcake")Here is Kate packing around her little princess dolls she got from Grandma Faye. They were a homerun big hit! She carried them ALL around with her everywhere (this was quite a challenge because I think there were 10 of them or so...LOL) She packs them all over the house...still, but my favorite is that she sets up little tea parties with them...only each princess sits IN a teacup. Very cute! Also, if you are wondering....yes, Nana and Papa got her a princess nightgown that she had to put on right away.....and YES....she is STILL wearing her regular clothes AND the Cinderella dress underneath it.....and YES...she stayed that way until bedtime. It was a good thing she didn't get even more clothes! LOL
I got some nice things as well. I got my mattress pad and a VERY nice sheet set I wanted. I got a super sweet fruit bowl that I wanted and a couple of other things. I have decided that when you get older your gifts sound so totally lame. I mean tell any kid what I got for Christmas this year and they would look at me like they felt bad for me...LOL, but I was waaaay happy to get it! But the funniest thing I opened was from my Grandma Faye
Ok...so my finger is covering the words a little, but you are probably reading right....it's PREPARATION H! Alright!? It was just what I wanted!! LOL I had a good laugh about this, but really my grandma was just using the box to wrap things in. It was a really nice necklace and some very appreciated cash. Thanks Grandma for the great gifts (and the laughs!). Love ya!
We had a very fun, very busy, and very blessed Christmas and hope all of you had the same. At the end of the day I felt very grateful. Grateful for friends and family. Grateful for our homes and all of the wonderful things we are able to partake of. Grateful for my husband who works hard for us and loves us deeply. Grateful for my children and the magic of Christmas through their eyes, but most grateful for my Savior. It left me feeling like I wanted to be a little better, a little stronger, a little more like Him. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you keep the spirit of Christ in your hearts always! Merry Christmas!