Merry Christmas!

We had such a wonderful Christmas day. I just love Christmas with little kids and the magic and excitement of it all. Unfortunately for the boys I am a stickler for traditions, most of which we did growing up. So the boys are given strict instructions that they DO NOT leave their room when they wake up on Christmas morning. They have to wait until mommy and daddy come get them. We get them all up and then cover their eyes as we walk to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. We make sure during our prayer that we say how grateful we are for Jesus. After breakfast, we line them up in the hall youngest to oldest...


We count to 3 and the boys are allowed to run out and check out the goods.

Reading the letter from Santa. This year there were 2 letters, one to all of the boys and one to Gavin because Santa ran out of time to mail Gavin's letter. (Whoops!) In Chase's letter to Santa, he asked if Santa would leave a picture of Rudolph because "he would really like that". Unfortunately in Santa's letter he said he got too busy and would try to leave a picture next year. Chase was a little bummed about that.

We open our stockings one at a time, youngest to oldest. (Yes, mommy is the oldest.)

A quick picture in front of the tree

Time to open presents... (our kids think all of the gifts under the tree are from Santa too. Uh, hello, can we get some credit?!)

I made this book for Chase using Snapfish. It came out SO cute! I still have to make Gavin and Wade one. '10 Reasons I Love Chase'

Gifts from the 'Wish List'

After we are finished at our house we head off to my parent's house for brunch and gifts. It usually can get quite chaotic there with all the siblings and grandkids, but we really enjoy ourselves. We make sure to call Grandma and Grandpa from Utah to wish them a Merry Christmas. Of course this year we got to talk to my brother Ray who is serving his mission in the West Indies. We are excited for him to come home at the end of February! Merry Christmas!