Christmas Day

Christmas morning began with the kids descending upon us after a short night's sleep (the big kids because of reading, the twins because they were too excited). To our astonishment Cameron and Harrison actually fell asleep in their own beds unsupervised--this was a first, and I mean quite possibly the FIRST time in their entire lives that this happened. As Bryce said, it was a Christmas miracle. They did end up on our bedroom floor sometime during the night, though; but that was no surprise.

We had a family prayer and then the kids lined up youngest to oldest to go downstairs.

Cute, cute kids.

Apparently Tyce wanted Harrison to speed up so he carried him. Ha.

Santa brought the things they'd wished for most: for Tyce, a Kaoss pad; for Mary, a jewelry tree (because her first choice, an Oliver Queen [from the TV show Arrow] pillowcase, was on backorder); for Cameron, a red remote-control Corvette; for Harrison, a yellow remote-control Camaro. Their stockings were filled with candy and other good things.

Cam and his Corvette.

Mary was just happy to pop the bubble wrap.

Tyce and his new toy. That face....oh boy.

Harrison got some football cards in his stocking.

Mary had asked for an Oliver Queen ornament so I printed a picture and used an ornament frame to make her one.

She swooned when she read the back!

Cameron showed his dad his new baseball card.

Heather got fuzzy socks and peppermint bark.

Grandpa Al wore his Santa hat/baseball cap!

Grandma Judy was sitting pretty.

After a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and a breakfast scramble, we went into the front rooms to open the other gifts. We set out a laundry basket for each kid to transport their presents in, but most of them chose to sit IN their baskets.

Mary in a basket.

My favorite picture of her of the day! So cute with Katie.

Harrison got a great surprise when he opened this box . . . 

It was a dirt bike helmet!

The twins got a combined birthday/Christmas gift from Grandpa Al and Grandma Judy: a basketball hoop and a basketball.

Cam couldn't believe that we got him a replacement zip-face hoodie! His beloved race car jacket disappeared sometime last spring and he had been a bit depressed every since.

Check out this adorable ninja.

But watch out, he's dangerous.

Heather got a good surprise!

And a gift card to Staples.

Harrison gave Tyce his own bubble gum machine.

Heather gave each of the kids a fun t-shirt!!!! Mary's was Grumpy Cat.

Tyce and Mary exchange gifts.

All the boys got their own kendamas.

Bryce got a scone mix and lemon curd. Blimey!

It was controlled, happy chaos.

Harrison with his new toy.

Grandma Judy got a tablet!

She was super surprised!

Another cute shot of my two girls.

Bryce got a bank!

Mare showed off her Manga book.

Guess who else got a bank?

Harrison was a bit of a grouch all morning, and guess how we found him after the all the gifts were opened--asleep sitting up! He was exhausted!

Tyce demonstrated his kendama skill.

Mary's jewelry tree. Notice that 1) this is MY bathroom, and 2) her ornament was not destined for the Christmas tree, but rather where she could admire it every day.

Selfie that shows off my very clean bedroom.

It's not every mom who gets to pose with her very own ninja.


It was a lovely day. We spent the morning watching the British TV show "Cranford" (introduced to us by Heather). We made some phone calls to loved ones who weren't with us, and we spent the day relaxing. That evening we had visitors, our sweet friend Ceara and my friend Jen F. There was a sudden boost of energy with the extra kids and a lot of extra craziness! It was a great end to a great day.

Christmas Eve

It was great to have Bryce's parents and his sister Heather over for Christmas. The only way we got our presents wrapped was that Heather took the kids to see a movie (The Hobbit) and we used that kid-free time to our advantage. One of the many reasons it was great to have family in town!

A tradition in our family is to have a special meal by candlelight and then have our Christmas Eve devotional. This year we had pork roast, roasted vegetables, orange Jello-salad (made with raspberry instead of orange and it was great), and green beans. Everything was delicious.

The family at dinner.

We also open Christmas crackers.

Bryce!

Me! I had no idea my hat was blue.

Cameron read us his joke.

Heather did bunny ears to a non-posing Mary.

I should have taken a "before" picture instead of an "after." These veg were amazing.

Tyce wore his paper hat over his ball cap.

After dinner Bryce led us in a devotional. Katie helped.

Bryce read some scriptures. And then we watched a video about the life of Christ.

Mary is so good at answering questions. She is so smart.

And pretty. Katie is mid-yawn (not so pretty).

Harrison and Tyce are buds.

Handstand Cam!

Then we took turns reading verses from Luke 2.

Mary

Grandpa Al

Heather

And everybody got a candle.

Cam and Grandpa Al.

Each child got a book. Tyce: Elantris by Brian Sanderson; Mary: books 2-4 of the City of Bones series; Cameron: NFL Highlights book; Harrison: boxed set of author Roald Dahl. After hugs and kisses they went upstairs and read. The twins shocked us by not only putting themselves to bed, but actually falling asleep!!!!

Since we had wrapped the gifts earlier, we took them out of hiding and placed them around the tree.

The tree and her packages.

Lots of exciting things!

View looking up.

And then Santa came and stuffed the stockings. He was done by midnight, that efficient guy.

Hung by the chimney with care, literally. One more ounce and they would have tumbled off their hooks.

The big kids read all night and the adults had visions of sugarplums and Santa-shaped Snickers dance in their heads, which is to say, sweet dreams.