Christmas Day

Tyce and Harrison woke up first and made sure to rouse Cam and Mary before pouncing on our bed at the magical hour of 7:00 a.m. I think the first two had been watching the clock for a long time before. Someone got Heather and we all gathered on our bed for family prayer.

With Heather.

With me.

After that the kids lined up by age (the one time Harrison does not mind being the younger twin) and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought.

How cute are these kids?

Flying downstairs!

The stockings always hold exciting treasures.

The big kids got video games (Assasin's Creed for Tyce; Pikmin 2 for Mare) and the twins got Legos (a Lego City garbage truck for Harrison {his #1 choice, btw}; and a Lego Creator 3-in-1 airplane/boat/truck for Cam).

They didn't have the Lego City set Cam wanted but he said he liked this one better anyway. Rock on, Santa.

Mary got Christmas socks. You can tell she is nearly always barefoot by the confusion and struggle that donning knit footwear causes her.

Katie was like, "Um, is this it?" Just kidding, she was a very grateful dog. She got a squeaky football too.

After the Santa gifts we moved to the front rooms for the rest of the gifts.

My parents got these musical, dancing hats for the kids and Bryce!

They also got these cool glasses.

Those are some scary elves.

Mary got an organizer called a Caboodle, which I filled with lip gloss and other cosmetics.

This was after I explained, "You have your own makeup now so you don't have to steal mine!"

Both boys really, really wanted messenger bags for Christmas. These were on mega sale from Lands End! Cam's was a space theme; Harrison's has wolves.

Tyce got a gift card.

Work it Cammy.

Tyce got a rugby ball and a South African flag.

Harrison opened a great surprise--a MythBusters experiment kit. He opened it and exclaimed, "Adam and Jamie!"

Bracelet and earrings for Mare.

Heather got new gloves from the Prices.

Bryce enjoyed stroking his beard while reading his new Mark Helprin book.

After the present-opening Bryce and Tyce dashed off to the airport to greet a friend flying in from Mexico, Allison. She is a super sweet girl Tyce met this summer in Utah and has remained a good friend. She was meeting family and driving to Arizona to spend the holiday with her grandparents and so Tyce enjoyed an hour with her.

Later that evening we saw the movie "Les Miserables" and it was, no hyperbole, one of the best movies I have ever seen.

I suspected I would need a tissue and boy, was I right. By the ending scene I was practically sobbing and so were Tyce and Mary! The entire theater was sniffling at least a little--except for Cameron who was asleep and Harrison who asked a million questions.

The car ride home was miserable, I won't lie, but I also won't dwell on it. Some people do not handle transitions well, as you know.

But it was a great day and I was glad to spend it with my family.