Our original plans for this Christmas break involved driving to Utah to spend the holidays with four of my siblings. Unfortunately, snow was forecast from Snoqualmie to Springville, and we weren't willing to risk the possible danger or extra travel time (especially with a baby who screams every time she's in the car longer than 10 minutes). Though we were sad not to celebrate with family, being home for Christmas is a beautiful thing.
While Utah is buried in snow, we got awfully close to having our own white Christmas! Bryce spent a couple hours on Christmas Eve shoveling all the snow in our backyard. He had hopes of making a snowman, but was ultimately content with his snow pile.
The Christmas morning rule in our family is no one can go downstairs until 7 am. That was essentially the same rule my family had growing up. When 7 am rolled around, my siblings and I would scurry to our parents' room. Mom and Dad would then slowly get up and even more slowly get ready. I used to think they were teasing us and trying to draw out the suspense. Now I'm pretty sure they were just tired!
Mark had to hold the kids back while I finished getting Nellie ready. "Hurry," he joked, "I don't think I can hold them back much longer!"
The kids were good enough sports to wait at the top of the stairs long enough to snap a Christmas morning picture. Aubree tells me this is the third year she's worn the same pajamas on Christmas morning!
First come the stockings, though I must admit that Little Nell's wasn't exactly "filled well." She only got new pacifiers for Christmas (she didn't seem offended).
The rest of the kids had significant hauls (I kind of love finding stocking stuff).
Opening presents proceeded in the typical youngest to oldest fashion. Aubree has designated herself "the present passer-outer." So far, none of the boys have argued with that, so we went with it. I enjoy the present opening. It's fun to see their reactions and excitement.
Top/favorite gifts this year:
Graham loves his Thomas the Train hat from his cousin Piper and a "little Big Bird" stuffed animal he got from Thane.
Aubree was thrilled to get a camera of her very own. Hopefully this will entice her to blog more on her somewhat neglected personal blog.
I love the picture below. Even though it's blurry, it captures her thrill perfectly (I believe this gift was the movie Cinderella). Aubree is also very excited to get a new pair of black and white converse high tops. This is her first foray into the "I-want-something-fashionable-and-trendy" arena. Unfortunately, said shoes are currently in Utah where I had then shipped when I thought we'd be there for Christmas. Oops.
For the last month, every night when I asked Thane "What are you thinking about?" he would answer, "Jelly Beans and Christmas." So guess what he got for Christmas? Aubree said, "I'm glad Thane got them, because he's the best at sharing!"
Bryce got Thane perler beads. They are a huge hit (I got a bigger container for the rest of the kids to share).
They've spent large portions of their days since Christmas making innumerable perler bead creations.
Today we had our first major spill, surprisingly enough - by Aubree. On the upside, she's big enough to clean them up by herself!
Bryce keeps changing his mind about what constitutes his favorite presents. Right now he says the desk lamp he got from Aubree and the Cool Circuits puzzle are his best gifts.
By the time breakfast (french toast casserole) was done cooking, all the presents had been opened.
And Baby Girl was ready to go back to bed.
In the late afternoon we joined our friends for a wonderful Christmas dinner and a fun and enjoyable evening.
Bryce exclaimed, "this was the best Christmas ever!"
Then he wisely added, "But I'll probably say the same thing next year."
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