CHRISTMAS!

Well, finally made it to Christmas - which was wonderful!!!  I always love Christmas and especially when it's on Sunday, my favorite.  I love the focus of Christ on Christmas and sometimes when we get wrapped up in the hype it is hard to remember to take a few minutes to really single in on what matters most.  

On Christmas eve we went over to Oldroyd's first and played some really fun "Minute to Win It" games.  And, we had dinner, which was yummy.  Then, we headed to Thalman's where we acted out the nativity.  Jaxon got to read this year, which was great.  Then, it was back home to open our Christmas eve p.j.s.  Which was actually a mess because the kids were all tired and wanted to open something different - they wanted to choose whatever present they wanted, which was not going to fly so after giving them a lecture and threatening them with not opening anything - ever - we all settled down and it ended up just fine. . . 

Well, until pictures and then Jainie got her feelings hurt somehow and Josie was trying to make her smile so we could get pics over with and the boys, well, they are just boys.  (Our pajama theme this year was hot pink and black - which we went with because I found some super comfy pjs for myself that fit my big prego belly that were hot pink and black :)).

The next morning we didn't wake up til 7:30ish.  Baby J woke me up by a good kick in the ribs at about 5:30 and we couldn't fall back asleep but no one else was up so we stayed and waited patiently in bed.  The kids finally came in all excited and ready to go, but Jared wasn't so cooperative and it took him another 1/2 hour to get up.  Then, we headed into the living room to read about the birth of Christ in the scriptures and have family prayer - my favorite part of Christmas.  Then, we headed down to mayhem.  Jared and I had stayed up the night before making breakfast casserole, overnight french toast, & a special scrambled egg thingy so after looking at what Santa brought we headed upstairs to eat our brunch.  It was really good and made me think I should make breakfast more often.  Usually we just have cold cereal on Christmas morning because Santa brings each of the kids their favorite cereal, no matter the cost or sugar content, but this year we decided to switch it up a bit.  Anyway, then, it was time to open a few presents - I had to make sure that all the church clothes got open before we had to go to church!  So, every time it was my turn to choose someone to open a present, I would try to find one of those.  And, we made it!  As soon as the last person opened theirs, we called a break and headed up to get ready for church, which wasn't until 1:00.  It was a wonderful program and I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the wonderful music, grateful I wasn't in charge of anything.  :)

Yes, Jake has a monocle in his eye - well, a made up one, at least.  What do you expect?  A decent family picture with three boys, someone always has to be goofing off, right?  

So, back at home, we changed clothes and headed to Gwood to visit the fam.  We went to see Gma Leila, which was nice and took her our present, then visited and enjoyed seeing what she received for Christmas.  Then, we headed up to U. Ralph and A. Alta's and enjoyed visiting with them before heading back to Mom and Dad's.  There we opened more presents and gave our presents out and visited with Stephen's family a little bit.  And, then, it was time to head to Thalman's for dinner and more presents!  We are very spoiled!  It was great fun - one of the best things about Christmas is enjoying all the family we get to see and hang out with.  We are very blessed to be able to live by both families and enjoy everyone.

After this, everyone was pooped so we headed home to bed.  So, the next day, luckily, Jared had off of work so we woke up and finished opening our presents.  We usually take a couple days to do this, not because we get so many presents but because we are really SLOW! - which suits me just fine.  :)  

As you can see, it was a wonderful Christmas and everyone loved it.  We all got to enjoy each other and had fun playing games and building legos and playing on new electronics.  So, thanks to everyone for the fun Christmas cards, gifts and enjoyable company - I can't imagine a better life!