Christmas finally came to our house! The first thing we did was make cookies for Santa. This year for some reason I had been craving Gingerbread cookies so that was the kind of cookies we made. We made Gingerbread men of all shapes and sizes.
Making cookies is always fun for the family. We get together in the kitchen to make the cookies and watch them cook and at last decorate them with lots of icing and red hot candies. Each of the kids took turns rolling out the dough and cutting out the Gingerbread men or girls.
All the kids had fun decorating their cookies and giving each cookie a different look. We had Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, pirate gingerbread cookies and ones with red hots all over them. They were all different and so delicious.
Russell had to work on Christmas Day so we decided to do Christmas early this year. We wrote a special email to Santa telling him about our situation and he agreed to come a day early just for us. We had Christmas Eve was on the 23rd. Russell worked that day as well, but it is always fun to go to the fire station to visit and have Christmas Eve. The kids brought one present to open before Christmas day.
They each opened their gifts and were excited to see Mickey or Minnie Mouse pajama's. Once the presents were open, we played around and talked and then it was time to get home and ready for Santa.
The kids got their letters to Santa written and the cookies and eggnog set out. While we were writing our letters, Charlotte was so funny. Emily had gotten out her Christmas stickers to put on her letter and Charlotte saw a sticker of Santa. When she saw it, she pointed and said, "Monster! Ho! Ho! Ho!" We laughed so hard and had to get her to repeat it on a video. Finally we read the Christmas story in Luke 2 and it was time for bed. The kids were so excited they had a hard time going to sleep but finally they did.
The next morning, Russell came home from work at around 8 and the only one that was awake was Logan. Russell decided that he needed to wake the rest of us up so we wouldn't miss Christmas. Finally we all got up and we were so excited to see what Santa had brought.
When we walked into the front room, we noticed that the only thing Santa had left was one giant present and a note on the top that said he had decided to do something different for us this year. (The note also told Charlotte that Santa was not a monster but a really nice guy.)
So we told the kids to open the present to see what was inside.
Inside the box was this note and a bunch of fun things we will need for our trip. We were going to DISNEYLAND!!! Instead of presents this year, Santa gave us a trip to Disneyland! The kids were so excited they were jumping for joy.
Inside the box were Mickey and Minnie ears, new clothes to wear at Disneyland, books to read and games to play while on the trip down, and some treats, glow sticks, and other things to use while at the Park. The kids couldn't believe we were actually going to Disneyland. They have been wanting to go there for so long. We will be leaving for California in one week on January 1st. We cannot wait!
Along with the big gift from Santa, each of us drew names and got each other a present to put under the tree. We had a great Christmas.
Emily got some great gifts from her friends and Colby. While we were in Nauvoo, Emily met a good friend named, Synevie. They have stayed in contact ever since and Synevie sent her a fun present all the way from Canada. She loved the warm Canadian socks and the bag full of Canadian candy and stickers. Colby had Emily's name this year and got her a Butterfly Garden kit. Unfortunately it is too cold here to actually get the butterfly eggs to grow so we got a coupon to redeem in the spring. Then we can actually watch the caterpillars grow, form a cocoon, and then turn into a butterfly.
Colby also had a great Christmas even though he was sick this year. He has had a fever for a few days now and we don't know what is going on. So in between having a fever, he had fun playing and opening presents.
The one thing Colby wanted this year was a microscope and Logan got him one. Colby absolutely loves it and has examined every slide that came with it as well as a bunch of other things he has put under the microscope.
Logan loved seeing what everyone else got for Christmas and was excited whenever anyone opened a gift. He also loved everything he received.
Emily got him a box full of dinosaur eggs. With these eggs, he can be an archaeologist and dig into them to find the dinosaur inside. He was so excited to dig into the eggs and see what was inside. These eggs have been really fun for all of the kids.
Finally Charlotte absolutely loved Christmas. She loved opening all of her presents and wearing or playing with whatever was inside.
Her favorite must have been the apple and candy cane in her stocking though because she just went to town eating both of them as soon as she saw them. She also loved seeing what everyone else got too. She got a magnet shape set and we have had a great time building lots of different houses, Ferris wheels, and cars out of the magnets.
Russell and I also got some fun gifts. Each of the kids have Rollerblades but neither of us have some so it is hard to go skating with them. This year, we got each other a pair of Rollerblades.
We cannot wait for the snow to melt so we can get out and use our roller blades. I think we will all have a good time this spring and summer roller blading outside as a family. I am hoping the Rollerblades will be like riding a bike and I will pick right back up on it. I tried them on in the house when I got them and skated like two feet before I fell flat on my butt. Luckily the rocking chair was there to catch my fall. My rude family just sat there and laughed at me. Okay I was laughing pretty hard myself. Russell went outside to try his skates out so that if he fell no one would know. Oh well I am sure I will be better once I am outside and not trying to dodge wrapping paper and other things all over the ground. Right?
Back in February or March I made each of the kids a Levi quilt out of all of our holey jeans. Well they kept asking when they could have their quilt and I finally gave it to them for Christmas. They love them and are always wrapping up in them to read or watch a movie or even using them to make forts. I love how they turned out and I love that they love them.
We just had a good easy going Christmas as a family and loved every minute. Now we just need to pack for our trip. We cannot wait to go to Disneyland in a week!
Merry Christmas!
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