You would think that life would slow down after the holidays, but it sure hasn’t. The last few weeks have been crazy busy. Doesn’t life ever slow down?? Well, before you know it, it’s going to be Valentine’s Day, so I better get to posting the rest of the Christmas pictures.
Last year we started a fun tradition. A couple days before Christmas, Stan and I leave the kids at home in the morning while he and I go shopping for some fun food. Later in the day we send the kids into their bedrooms while Stan and I prepare a fun little picnic in the family room next to the Christmas tree. We call the kids in, and Stan (all dressed up) reads the story in the Book of Mormon which describes what happened in the Book of Mormon lands when Christ was born on the other side of the world.
We had meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits and dip, jalapeno cream cheese poppers, chocolate covered cream puffs, tapioca pudding and Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice. It was yummy!
Later that night, we headed over to Gilbert for a fantastic home light display. These pictures don’t do the display justice. There were 3 consecutive homes that were decked out with lights. They had the lights programmed to music. You tune your car radio to a particular station, turn up the volume and enjoy the show. It was AMAZING! It was so much fun to watch. It was funny because I didn’t tell the kids at first that the lights were in sync with the music. I wanted them to figure it out on their own. They were pretty excited once they figured it out. Thanks for telling us about this Brenda!
On Christmas Eve Day we had my sister’s kids over (she invited my kids over the previous day for a fun afternoon, and while the kids were gone we got all of our wrapping done!! woo hoo!). Having cousins over made Christmas Eve Day go by a little quicker for the kids. It was fun having them over.
We had leftovers from the day before, so we thought we’d do another picnic with the cousins.
I got out the dollhouse for the younger 2 girls and look who ended up playing with it. :)
Christmas Eve Dinner
We had Christmas Eve Dinner at my parents house. Oh my goodness, it was so yummy!!
After dinner, we came home and let the kids open up one present. The boys were THRILLED about the blankets that Cassie had made for them. Here they are with their new blankets (Cassie made one for herself too).
The Nativity Story
To end Christmas Eve we arranged the nativity figures in the stable as we told the Christmas story from the Bible and sang Christmas Hymns.
And then it’s finally OFF TO BED!!
Because of early preparations, Stan and I were able to get into bed by 11:30…woohoo…well, maybe not. I COULDN’T SLEEP!!! I think by 3 a.m. I finally fell asleep. I was so mad!! I guess I was too excited for Christmas! :) Oh well, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without being completely tired and exhausted right??
Christmas Morning
Looks like Santa ate all the cookies!!
We laughed when Cassie opened up the pair of pajama pants that we got her. At first she thought we’d gotten her a pair of hideous pants. She wasn’t quite sure how to react. When she looked at them a little closer, she realized what they were and exclaimed, “Oh! They’re pajama pants…they ARE cute!”
Dallin was so cute all Christmas morning. He had the funniest reactions to all of his presents. He had us laughing the whole morning. He loved all his presents…even the socks Santa gave him, but I think his favorite was the boxing gloves.
Parker wins the prize for the best reactions…
…well, maybe not. I think Stan wins. Before he opened up his presents, I was joking around with Stan telling him that I didn’t need to take any pictures of him because he never gives the kind of reactions that I like. So… he decided to really ham it up and give some really great reactions!! He’s such a funny guy. He really had us laughing.
The big surprise on Christmas morning was when the kids discovered the Hamster that Matthew (their cousin) gave the kids. We’ve never had a hamster before, and the kids weren’t expecting it at all so it was a big surprise. They were SO excited! Well…Cassie and Parker were anyway. As soon as Dallin realized that there was something moving in the cage, he quickly got up, ran to his room and slammed the door! It was so funny. After he got over the shock of it all, he was pretty excited about it too. We named her Gabby, and she is the cutest thing. We get her out every day to play with her. Thanks Matthew!
Christmas Afternoon
My favorite part of Christmas day is Mom’s Chimichangas. It really hits the spot on Christmas day!
The highlight of Christmas was when all the grandkids opened up their present from Grammy and Papa…Coaster Cars!! These cars are so awesome!! No pedaling required! The kids couldn’t get enough of them. And they are sturdy enough for adults to ride. Even I like taking a spin around the kitchen every now and then…I just can’t resist. :)
We had race after race.
Even the Mom’s had a race!
And then the Dads.
After spending time with my family we headed over to Stan’s parents house…and can you believe that we didn’t take a single picture? I guess “Stan the Camera Man” was tired of taking pictures. But we enjoyed a nice relaxing visit with the Roberts’, ate yummy homemade soup and played games. How fortunate we are to have both sides of the family living in town.
So there you have it…Christmas 2009. And as my kids say each and every year, “This was the BEST Christmas EVER!!!” Oh how I love my kids!!
Happy 2010 everyone!!
