Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 turned out unexpectedly awesome.

 Unlike the Christmas tree pics I tried to take.
Above was one of the test shots, below is one of the actual attempts, not sure what Ander is declaring but Scarlett didn't care for it... I think if it wouldn't have been past bed time I might have tried a few more.

 The upside of having so many presents to wrap even when there are just a few for each person is that your tree looks full and amazing. I think pictures of the Christmas tree are so magical.

 Christmas morning we had a little miracle. Because Nathan was in an accident he didn't get home until 2am and of course I wasn't able to go to bed until he was home safely. I figured the kids would just wake us up when they couldn't contain themselves anymore. Imagine my surprise when Kennedy whispered to me and woke us up after 8am! They had been waiting patiently since 6am but didn't want to wake us. So unexpected and so sweet.

 However, because we had slept in and also had to get ready for church soon, we were forced to only do stockings and breakfast before going to church.
Nathan and I were so proud of our kids. They were the only one of their friends who had to wait until after church to discover what Santa had brought them; but they impressed us so much with their self control.

Church was lovely and a good way to focus on the actual meaning of Christmas. When we got home the children all wanted to change back into pajamas before we dug in. This year we had both sets of Grandparents watching on Skype. Nathan's parents are serving a mission in Seattle, WA and my parents now live in Spokane, WA. It was awesome to have them tuning in, though looking back Nathan and I realized we missed a lot of what was going on, and lot's of photo op's while trying to insure the kids were where the grandparents could see etc. Maybe a little hectic. But nice to feel like family was near.
Consequently, I have no pictures of Ander with his favorite gift, a baseball bat and ball. Listen, the kid has some raw talent when it comes to physical activities and sports. In his world, anything round is a ball and anyone upright should be tackled.

 Kohen in his new Superman outfit, those muscles = my fave! Kennedy was excited about the salon chair for her American Girl Doll, though if her dolls had any idea what kind of tortuous trips to the "salon" were coming they would have hidden themselves straight away!

 And Aly, thrilled about clothes. She was given a dress that looks like a little sailor girl and she wants to wear it EVERYDAY. She changes into it EVERYDAY after school. She adores it. For whatever reason, the dress inspires her imagination. Cute girl.

And sweet Scarlett, she was my personal favorite gift this year.
What a Merry Christmas after all!