Christmas Day

The story of our Christmas Day...even though Santa and his "helpers" had stayed up late, I was surprised that Tod and I were both the first ones awake...I guess we were a little bit excited!
Here are the kids at 7:41 AM...amazingly baby Luke slept until 9 AM so he missed out on the first festivities.

There was A LOT of excitement and anticipation in the air!

Cole loved his guns and trucks:

Regan was thrilled to get the gymnastics mat she really wanted:

For Jordan it was all about the Legos:

And Ashton was happy with her Minion:

There was one more thing that Ashton had been wanting for months and months...of course, Santa couldn't make it easy on her and there were boxes inside of boxes to open.  The siblings were very excited too!

In the last box there was a contract to sign outlining all the rules and expectations...and a special phone number to call...and then she had to find the sound coming from her new cell phone!  We have entered a whole new stage of life!!!

There were some fun gifts for Mom and Dad, including a very unexpected surprise for me...a new Ipad...I guess I am going to have to get more technological, too.

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast on my Mom's pretty china.

And then Luke finally woke up to celebrate his first Christmas...he had a lot of "help" with his Santa gifts.

Grandma Cindy (currently on her mission in Utah) knitted these adorable bears.

And the kids loved unwrapping carefully chosen gifts from Grandpa Kirk and Grandma Patsy!
The rest of our day was spent unwrapping, putting together, cleaning up, and figuring out...so goes Christmas with  lots of kids....I wouldn't want it any other way!  We had a potluck dinner with some good friends and just enjoyed being together.  When we went to bed, we both commented that it was our favorite Christmas to date...and I think we say that every year.  Christmas is a lot of work...but how I love shopping for these ones I love and getting to spoil them.  What a very, merry Christmas 2013!

Christmas Eve

This year, I had some specific goals and ideas for Christmas Eve...some time to spend with family,some time to spend with friends, some time to relax and enjoy, some time to serve.  It turned out to be such a wonderful day in every way, and I felt very thankful.

After a relaxing morning, we got ready to head to a local retirement home to do some caroling.  (My sister in law has done something similar for several years, and I always loved the idea.  I also felt like it would be a good way to honor my mom's memory as she loved to spend time with older people bringing them cheer.)  Some dear friends joined us- Ashton played her violin and Jordan played her viola.  Then we sang some church songs as well as some traditional carols.  At the end, we handed out some homemade paper snowflakes.  The people were thrilled with the simple gift.  I am thankful to my kids and friends for being good sports.  They were a little hesitant at first, but by the end I could see the joy on their faces.  This is definitely something we will continue.

We even made it on to their daily announcements!

 Cole's friend took an awesome picture of Cole taking a picture!

After our visit to the retirement home, we headed on to another tradition...Christmas Eve lunch at Burger King.  Yummy!

Then it was home to prepare for an evening with friends...some of our very favorite neighbors.  It was special to have time together to visit and enjoy each others company.  We had soup and sides.  These two women are such dear friends to me, and we love their families.

 The Snarr Clan on Christmas Eve:

A couple of years ago we started a sibling gift exchange tradition, and we decided that these gifts would be opened on Christmas Eve.  That way there is time to really enjoy the gifts and be thankful to the giver...and it's not so lost in the huge chaos of Christmas Day.  I am so glad we have done this...it is one of my favorite times of the whole season.  The kids had been so thoughtful and careful in their gift choices, and they were all so excited.  (A few days earlier, the stars had aligned, and I was able to take all 3 girls shopping...we spread out throughout the store and then they each took turns shopping with me for their person...it was so much fun to see then carefully figure prices and really think about the other person.)  So by the time the gift exchange came around, everyone was bursting!
Jordan got Luke a little train and pop up toy:

Luke got Cole a Nerf gun and walkie-talkies:

 

Cole got Regan a Nerf gun and diary:

Ashton got Jordan a lego set and some dry erase markers:

And Regan got Ashton a soccer ball and a scarf:

Of course, there were some new jammies to put on and a reading of the old copy of Twas the Night Before Christmas.

The kids stayed up for a while playing with their stuff, and we joked that maybe there didn't need to be anymore gifts....they assured us that a few more in the morning would be fine!

Grandma Cindy made Luke a stocking so we had to snap a few pictures of that!

And then it was finally time for bed...sometimes it seems like in a big family, it is a rare thing when everyone goes to bed happy...but that night, everyone went to bed happy (probably wanted to make sure Santa would come!)...and it was a beautiful thing.