Christmas 2007

Christmas was great. We start out on Christmas Eve by having our kids open up their first present. They get a new pair of pj's and slippers to go with it. After the kids are bathed and in their new pj's we go on a "pajama-rama". (Jon made up the pajama-rama a few years ago. It's when we're all in pj's and go on a drive in our van.) We drive all around the city to see the Christmas decorations and lights that people have on their houses. It's so fun to see all the lights and the kids all end up falling asleep. This year it happened so fast. We were only 5 miles into our pajama-rama when all of our kids were fast asleep. When we get home we just put them straight to bed and they're already asleep! It's great! It helps them fall asleep when they're so excited about Santa Claus coming.

Christmas morning came, and so did Santa! He ate the cookies the kids made and left them presents in their stockings. Alex got Shrek the Third and some Shrek toys, a candy cane filled with M&M's, a tie, and an orange. Caleb got Ratatouille, a LEGO construction truck, a candy cane filled with M&M's, a tie, and an orange. Leah got a lot of Polly Pocket's, PollyWorld DVD, a tiny baby doll, a candy cane filled with M&M's, and an orange.

We got our kids each a suitcase, clothes, dinner plates with their picture on it, a digital camera, Leap Pad games and Leah got a Leap Pad. They enjoyed opening the presents they bought for each other. Leah bought Alex a LEGO helicopter, and Caleb a Batman backpack. Caleb bought Alex a LEGO Mars Mission set, and Leah a aqua doodle book and some baby bottles. Alex bought Leah a little High School Musical guitar that sings the HSM song and an Elmo doll, and Caleb a Ratatouille Leap Pad game. They also got some nice new church clothes. The boys needed new suits and Leah's red dress is adorable. Jon and I got some fun things too. Jon's favorite was his new air drill, and my favorite was my new robe and some DVD games (Deal Or No Deal and Family Feud).

We went to my Grandma's house on Christmas day. The boys got some nice dishes (Alex's are Spiderman, and Caleb's are Cars). Leah got a Princess duffle bag that came in handy in bringing all of the presents home. Every year we get quart jars filled with pistachio nuts from my Grandma. I LOVE getting my own "stash" of nuts every Christmas.

Jon's two aunts came to visit on Christmas. Aunt Denise came from Salt Lake, and Aunt Robin was here all the way from Washington state. We got to play Scene It Music Edition with Denise while Aunt Bun played Leap Pad games with Alex and Caleb. It was a fun visit.

We had a simple dinner that I cooked just for our family. My parents were in Las Vegas, and we had been to Nephi to see Jon's family on the 23rd. So, it was a nice quiet dinner with just our family. I made ham, a potato casserole, veggies, salad, rolls, and jello. I thought it was delicious, but my kids didn't touch the potatoes. I found a new recipe and I guess they don't like it very much.

My parents came home from Las Vegas on Dec 26th. We went to their house for a lasagna dinner and to open more presents! I got some new frames to hang my family pictures in. Jon got a power supply for his radios. All of our kids got a LEGO set. Alex got a fire rescue boat.

Caleb got a LEGO city car wash and gas station set. So cute!! I love all of the little details!

Leah got a bucket full of Lego's. We built a little house, car and helicopter for her from her set. Our family got another LEGO set that is a castle. It was tougher to put together than the other ones so my mom and I put it together. The kids all helped us with the other sets. The pictures don't do the LEGO sets justice. It took us HOURS to put together all of these Lego's. I think we added up that there were 1392 pieces all together!!!

We had a fabulous Christmas and now we have the challenge of finding permanent homes in our house for all of these new items! I hope everyone else had a great Christmas too. Here are some pictures from our Lanier Christmas party at Christel and Alan's house.

"I can't believe this isn't just a dream," Alex