Christmas 2012

It was so fun to have Grandma and Aunt Elizabeth with us for Christmas this year.  I grew up having Grandma and Grandpa (some years both sides) come over on Christmas morning and I'm glad my kids had that opportunity.  Since my parents couldn't be here, I included a couple short video clips so they can catch a glimpse of our day.

Santa found us!

Christmas George put crepe paper across the doorway at the top of the stairs.

First look

Checking out the stockings.  

Justin was slow to warm up, but he got the hang of this "Christmas thing" quickly.

I think he liked the candy most of all.

Dillon got a pet hamster!  He's been living in our master bathroom for over 3 weeks, 

but we managed to keep him a secret! 

Brayden's haul included new rollerblades, new scriptures with his name engraved, and a Snap Circuits set.

  

Caleb got a pogo stick, the complete Harry Potter book series, and a Ninjago Lego set.

Dillon received his first ever new bike (he's only had hand-me-downs from his brothers). He was also thrilled to get the pet hamster he's wanted for months, and a Monster Lego set.

Justin got a "Sit and Spin", Lego Duplos, a Cash Register, and a gas tank to go with his Cozy Coupe.

I accidentally saw my gift a few weeks ago when the UPS delivered it in a labeled box.  Todd and Linda went in together and bought be the Serger that has been in my Amazon cart for over a year!  I'm excited to figure out how to use it.  

The boys picked out this shirt for their dad.  He also got a fancy-a$$ pillow (Todd has pillow "issues"), a gift card to Cal-Ranch, and a handgun.  He's hoping to go shoot it later today. 

Our family gift was a ping pong table!  We shoved stuff out of the way to make room for Christmas morning.  Cleaning, de-junking and organizing the garage is next up on the project list.

The high-priest group leader in our ward has a tradition of feeding the ward breakfast on Christmas morning at his house.  You read that right.  They invite the entire ward!  After we opened presents, we went over to the Lafaele's for waffles, ham, orange juice, rice, sweet and sour meatballs, and homemade rolls in some kind of coconut milk sauce. Yum.

The rest of the day included naps, sugar, toys, more sugar, and then a Christmas dinner of ham and cheesy potatoes.  Just before dinner, we took a minute to go outside and release some heart shaped balloons for Grandpa, since we can't visit the cemetery. 

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas.  We've loved receiving cards from so many of you. We are hoping to finally get a family picture taken this week (we've been sick all month!!) and possibly send out New Years cards.  If you would like one, please fb, or email me your address, since our address list is stuck on a hard drive with a broken port and I can't access anything until I get it fixed.