Christmas Day

We were amazed that the kids slept until 7:45! They had to come into our room and hang out until 8:00...then they could go and wake up uncle Vince and Grandma & Grandpa. A few of the little stinkers kept trying to peek at the tree and all of the gifts! I started the Christmas music after everyone was awake and had the kids sit on the stairs waiting for the o.k. to enter.

The stockings were the first thing they went through and Santa did a great job this year! Then we opened our gifts from Santa and everyone was very happy with his generosity! The boys were thrilled with their Bakugan's, movies, skate boards, Rubix, Bendaroo's, Matchbox cars and games. Ella loved her My Little Ponies and Care Bear. I was very happy to receive some awesome CUTE winter boots and Matt received flannel sheets. Not too exciting, but he wanted some! Grandma and Grandpa gave Drew a remote control Taranchula...it is a good thing noone is afraid of spiders in our house!

I think their one of their favorite gifts was the big box of Lego's from Nana and Pa. They sent them the Lego's my little brother's used to play with. They played for FOUR hours straight building and sorting them! The boys also were very excited about the Capri Sun pencil pouches from me! They asked me a few months ago to make them and they have been saving their pouches from their lunch every day. I was lucky to get them done on Christmas Eve.

It took us about three and half hours to open all of the gifts. We make everyone take a turn opening...so one at a time multiplied by nine people takes a long time! Instead of cinnamon rolls this year we made a really yummy breakfast casserole. Mary helped me make it the night before so all I needed to do was put it in the oven. It was the perfect "intermission" meal before we finished up our gift opening. One of my favorite gifts (from me to our family) was my favorite family pictures printed! I will be hanging them as soon as my tin ceiling tile arrives that I am going to use as the "frame" for the 20x20 family portrait! I CAN'T WAIT!

Matt received an awesome outdoor recliner chair and new snow boots! It was very tricky trying to buy the boots when I wasn't sure exactly what it was the he had found up at Cabela's. LUCKILY, I picked the right ones and he loves them. They are HUGE and make him at least three inches taller! The kids had a fun time trying to walk in them and Ella was hilarious...she couldn't even move.

We are so thankful to our family who were so kind and generous to our family this Christmas! It was so awesome to have family to share the holiday with us and the magic Christmas brings. The day was so relaxing as we all played with our new things and enjoyed company and wonderful leftovers! In the afternoon we were able to have a conference call with my brother Tom who is serving a full time mission for our church in Tijuana, Mexico. It was great to hear his voice and his accent! We did it through Skype so everyone could easily hear the conversation, it was really cool!

The weather outside was HORRIBLE...constant wind around 65 mph and blowing snow. We were happy to be inside protected from the elements! The drifts outside are crazy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!