Christmas Day

Christmas day for us was about as slow and relaxed as they come. We woke up about 7:00 to see what Santa had brought us and he definitely did not disappoint! Kade started it all off when he caught a glimpse of his Lightning McQueen 4-wheeler. We couldn't get him off of it to open another present. We had a video camera running and every once in a while you'll see him pass in the background going up and down the hall. Greg and I were both surprised at how well he was able to drive it, no running into walls or anything. It was even better when he figured out he could get off and lift the front end around to turn around when he hit a dead end. Now he is an old pro, getting tricky and standing on one side while he drives or standing up or crouching down and looking over the handle bars like he is going way fast. The one present we were able to get him to open was Buzz Lightyear. He calls him his robot. So cute to watch him take Robot for rides and then park and figure out what all the buttons on Robot do. Then giggle. Later in the morning Kade opened a big castle that comes with dragons and knights to fight (aka a doll house for boys). This has also been one of his favorites. As the morning went on, Kade definitely got overwhelmed and had a rough time sharing all the new things. Not much more can be expected from a 2 year old, but I was grateful when nap time came around for him.

I just realized I didn't get many pictures of Bryn opening gifts. Probably because she also liked to take her time and we'd get playing and forget about the camera. This Christmas really was all about the Barbie. She was able to get quite a few dolls and accessories to add to her collection. Another one of her favorite this was her Nintendo DS. She absolutely loves it. I am surprised at how well she does at it. After walking her through a couple of the games a couple times she was able to pick up on them and do really well.

{Here she is looking in her stocking. Each year Santa brings here some press on nails for little fingers. She absolutely loves them! What a girly girl!}

{Here is Bryn opening some new doll clothes for her babies. So much fun!}

With Kade and Bryn I mentioned that they liked to take things slow and take a minute to look at what was under the wrapping paper. Not my Tanner. So indicative of his personality, it was a race and he wanted to rip through his presents in record time. I think he did actually look at what was there, but there just wasn't time to find out much about it. J We love our Tanner. Tan's biggest wish this year was for a set of Golf Clubs so he could go out with Dad. Santa delivered.

It's just too bad that because of a certain little brother wanting to get the clubs out and swing them they found a quick home in the garage. I'm afraid he hasn't had much of a chance to get his hands on them. Tan also scored some science kits {because, you know, his favorite subject is Science}.
The remainder of the day was spent in our PJ's, eating yummy food and playing with toys and figuring out new games. Here are some other pictures from our day.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

The morning of the 23^rd I was hurting for family pretty bad. Greg and I hadn't made any party plans with our friends for the holidays so, about 10:30 Wednesday morning we decided we were going to party it up at our house. We invited 3 families over to have a good old fashioned Christmas Eve Party. We had the traditional Soup and Breadsticks. I made some Chicken Noodle Soup (it actually was horrible, because I timed it wrong, so by the time everyone was ready to eat my noodles were mush!) Luckily there were a couple other soups there to save the day. Everyone pitched in to help make it a great night.
We started off eating then let the kids play for a while before starting our program.

For our Christmas Program we tried to put in some of everyone's holiday traditions. The Denney's have a tradition of doing a reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." I asked our friends, Matt and Alisha Lindsey, to do the honors. I think they thought I was a little crazy, but they were good sports and did an awesome job.

The Owen Family then hosted a white elephant exchange, including the traditional "Wright Family" passing game. I was glad this was one of their traditions because it was one of ours too! I was surprised at the boldness of my kids to get what they wanted. Tanner and Bryn had to steal their items from adults, not something I expected of them. Bryn ended up with a Hello Kitty Notepad and Tanner was the proud (very proud) owner of hand sanitizer. Funny kid, you would have thought he'd just been given $100. Kade was hilarious as the gifts were being passed from left to right; he thought it was the funnest game ever. I was worried he wouldn't want to give his gift up, but he played along with a huge smile on his face.


After the white elephant exchange all the kiddos opened their Christmas PJ's. So fun to have to have 13 kids running around in nice, cozy jammies as the excitement of Christmas was building.

 {And here is Tanner again showing off his hand sanitizer}

The kids played some more games as the party started winding down.

After everyone left it was time to set everything out for Santa and his reindeer.

Greg took care of sprinkling the reindeer food because (drum roll please) it was snowing!

The night ended soon after that. What a fun, busy way to spend Christmas Eve. We definitely missed our family in Utah (and Washington) but we are blessed to have good friends in Arkansas to help fill in the gaps.

Gingerbread Houses

We were able to do one of our favorite traditions the other night; making a Gingerbread house. The kids love expressing their creativeness through candy. Go figure. J We decided we were going to divide the house in 2 this year. Can you tell which side was who's?

Kade made several contributions to our night. I thought I was safe when I gave him 2 of the ornaments that came with the gingerbread kit. He had such a great time… but it didn't save me from any mess!

And this is what I found on my floor! (Plus a few extras) :)

We did have a good time, and the mess is still continuing as the slowly eat it up.  But it's worth it!
Gotta love it!