Christmas Eve finally came and we were ready and excited. After dinner we read the Christmas story by candlelight. It was lovely.
There truly is something magical about sitting under the twinkle of the tree lights.
We let the kids open their Christmas Eve gifts, which, according to tradition, are pajamas. The kids were
not happy or excited about what they thought would be their presents. But it was so fun to see their joy when they opened them and realized they really
were happy with them. Chayse and Alyssa got robes sinces they had outgrown theirs and Brady got some MUCH needed footie pj's (his favorite!) since he had really outgrown his as well. (Which, by the way, I thought were just camouflage but really turned out to be dinosaurs. Funny thing.) I've never seen kids so happy about pj's and bathrobes! They were thrilled...especially the zebra girl! They literally tackled me with thankful love. So fun. I'm so grateful to have such good kids.
Funny story about the gifts. I'd already purchased them and all three kids had mentioned to me at some point before Christmas what they wanted, and I was pretty excited because what they wanted was exactly what I had gotten. Brady mentioned wanting new zipper pajamas because he was noticing the sleeves on his getting shorter and shorter and the slippers being tighter and tighter. Chayse wanted a robe that helped absorbed water. And I was shopping with Alyssa one day and she saw a robe with animal ears and freaked out! Then out of the blue she said, "Mom, my tastes have changed. I really like funky things...like zebra stripes! I
love zebra!" Little did they know that exactly what they wanted was already waiting for them. It made me excited for Christmas.
We were enjoying the evening when a knock came at the door and Bishop Berlin stuck his head in to drop off a little treat for our family. I saw him a few Sunday's later and he warmed my heart so much when he stopped to tell me what a special, touching treat it was for him to get a peek into our home that night. He is a man I greatly admire so that meant a lot to me.
When all was said and done and it really was time to go to bed there was much debate about when the kids could wake us up in the morning. They, of course, wanted it much earlier than we did, but a compromise was reached that was early but not too early. I couldn't resist taking a picture of them as they sat at the top of the stairs after family prayer on Christmas morning, eagerly awaiting our okay to head down. I so remember doing the same thing with my siblings growing up.
Santa gifts and stockings are always fun.
There were several surprises that really tickled the kids like Webkinz animals, paintable birdhouses, pink ties, magnetic earrings, scented notebooks, fuzzy slippers, stylus' and cashews.
This was the beginning of a morning of screams from Alyssa. She was sooooo excited about many gifts. She would let her jaw drop and couldn't contain her happiness and excitement.
The best part was that her sheer joy was from the simplest of things: a box of colorful gel pens, a cupcake calendar, and peanut butter to name a few things!
There were three identical, cubed shaped presents under the tree that Chayse was
absolutely convinced he knew what they contained. I knew there was
no way he could know what they were, especially since they were a last minute, very much on a whim gift. He and I had quite the arguement about it, but he could not be swayed that he was not all knowing. He got a scale and a ruler and would mysteriously research something on the computer. With all of his precision research he was even more convinced he was right so he wanted to prove it to us. He wrote his prediction down on a piece of paper, put tape over it to 'laminate it, emptied a raw egg and slipped the paper inside. He turned it into an ornament and hung it on the tree for us to crack open before they opened the boxes to prove that he
knew.
I was quite perplexed by this adamant behavior, but he was convinced. So we cracked open his egg....and he was wrong. :)
They were personalized mugs with pictures of the kids as babies, preschoolers and then this year. It was quite hilarious because, coincidentally, the boxes were the
exact dimensions and weight as Lego Mindcraft boxes. He wasn't disappointed though and as time had progressed he became less sure of his conviction. The kids all really actually like their mugs. When we went to Wisconsin they wanted to adopt Ernie and Stacie's tradition of everyone having their own mug to eat oreo's and milk.
Everyone was very thoughtful this year. This kids all budgeted and spent their own money for gifts. It is so, so fun to see our kids be excited (and worried and anxious) about making other people happy. It was very sweet because they were all very concerned that they chose the right gifts for everyone. And they all did great! Chayse surprised the kids with transformers and peanut butter.
Brady even found some great little treasures at DI that fit his budget so he could buy his gifts all by himself. Alyssa found some cool soaps & body scrubbers for the boys.
The kids were so please and grateful for all they got. Alyssa loved her dance bag, scripture bag, dressy boots, and Sister's Grimm books. Chayse was very happy with his Case-It binder/bag for school, a surprise transformer of his own, a diablo yo-yo and a new Utah sweatshirt. Brady was excited for 2 new Lego video games, a treasure chest and shrinky-dinks. (Boy did we have fun with those shrinky dinks!! Especially making earrings for Alyssa's new hoop clip ons.)
Dad surprised the family with a Halo edition of Xbox 360. Chayse started screaming like Alyssa had been all morning.
Dad was full of surprises this year because he also surprised Alyssa with a glass heart necklace that she'd been oogling on our trip to North Dakota
And he really surprised me with a Blentec blender and some Zumba CD's. I was not expecting it at all! In fact I'd talked him out of both several times in the last few years. But with my recent recommittment to and love of green smoothies, the blender has been used...a ton...and been so worth it. (He knew I would eventually say, "You're right. I'm so glad you bought this.") The kids surprised me with jewelry and chocolate. Happiness!
I also had some surprises up my sleeve for Bryce with a clock for his newly painted garage and a terrycloth bathrobe. He was happy and surprised!
I'm sure we won't remember everything we got this year, but I honestly hope to never forget the wonderful feeling of the day. My heart was full of love at the thoughtfulness and kindesses that were show, for the joyful reactions and words of thanks, and for all of the hugs that were given and received with open hearts. We created a mess that morning but also built some beautiful memories along the way.
