Christmas 2011.."The Best Day Ever!"

Our Christmas started Christmas Eve at Matt and Nicole's. Nicole prepared a nice dinner which included soup bowls, tamales, and shrimp cocktail and chips, salsa and guacamole. The kids all ate up their soups and thought the bread bowls were cool. Guess they have never had them before. I think Ethan was intrigued by the fact that he could actually eat his bowl! Craig and Nicole's parents joined us for the evening. The kids had fun playing UNO, charades, etc. Aubrie was voted the best for charades as she pretended to be scissors! After the rest of the company left for the evening, we exchanged gifts. We got Matt and Nicole a hot cocoa machine, and an ornament that had things they had done in 2011 engraved on it. Lacey and Sophia gave each other the same toy (La La Loopsy) and they were equally excited about it. We got Carson and Shea gift certificates to Game Stop, and our boys got an Angry Birds game, which they soon rushed up to play with their cousins. Aubrie got a gymnastic necklace, which she immediately put on. Ben got a gift card to the golf course. My gift was saved for last, and rightly so. Nicole had emailed my friends and family and asked them things they liked about me. She compiled them along with her own feelings, and put them on subway art. She knows me well, and knew I had some heartbreaks about trusting some friends, who turned out not to be so great. It was so thoughtful of her to think of me like that. Here it is! She also gave me subway art for the rest of the year. I am grateful for how many wonderful friends I have. Though I have been disappointed by just a few, the Lord has surrounded me by so many wonderful caring people..too many to keep count, and Nicole has been one of them. So lucky to have a sister like her! After gifts, we sat around and talked for about 30 more minutes, and then headed home to finish our night.

At home we put out the cookies and reindeer food, and passed out their new PJ's. They were all too big, except for Sophia's! Oops! After they put them on, they came downstairs for a quick Christmas FHE. We usually do this Christmas morning, but since we had Church on Christmas day, we did it Christmas Eve. We started with a song and prayer, and then opened our cards we wrote to the Savior last Christmas. They were things we committed to work on. We opened them up and quietly thought about how we did. We all decided we had improved, but that we still could do better. Tonight, for FHE, we are adding something new to our list, and will continue to work on both. The point I made to the kids is that we did improve, so next year we should be even better with the first thing, and we should make some improvements on the new things. So ever year we should be improving on new things, and they will begin to multiply and we will become better people. I also passed out their new ornaments, and then Boston played Joy to the World, and we sang. Then the kids headed upstairs. The boys asked for the Christmas Benadryl (lol) and they were all out within 15 minutes.

Ben and I got the presents out, and I worked on a skirt that Jen Waishnora had given Sophia, that Sophia wanted to wear for church the next day. Then we watched a few episodes of Arrested Development. Yes, we have a bit of an addiction to Netflix! LOL Really, lately I just need at least a one episode of comedy every night to help me relax from the crazy days I have. It does help me sleep better. But I do admit, sometimes we get a bit carried away and watch too many in a row! We finally finished up a few more things, like eating the cookies and putting out Santa's letter, and then we went to bed around 12:30. We didn't even set our alarms, banking on an early wake up call from the kids.

I woke up to the clock reading 7:25! We quickly woke the kids, bc we had church at 9:00. Sophia was just sitting on the couch in the loft. Just like she had been waiting for us to all wake up for Christmas. We got the others to the top of the stairs, and when we got the video camera ready, we turned on the Christmas Tree lights, which lights up the living room, and they can see their Santa gifts. Sophia's excitement is indescribable. She was hugging her barbie RV and she was squealing in excitement over EVERYTHING in her stocking. Simple things like hair bows, candy, etc! I'm going to miss that! Aubrie got a Pogo Stick from Santa, Boston got a Haro bike, and Ethan and electric scooter. After they went through their stockings we rushed upstairs to get ready for church. Boston pulled me aside and said, "Mom, I'm a little worried about how much money all this cost." What a cute boy to be concerned about that, and also to think to pull me aside away from Sophia as to not cast any suspicion about Santa!"

We all got ready, ate and out the door in plenty of time for Church. They had the music program, which was really nice. It was also great to see everyone on Christmas. Such a more happy and joyous spirit resided there that day. The kids were VERY antsy, but it was a great start to Christmas Day. When we got back we made them wait an hour to open their gifts, which worked great because it gave them time to play with their Santa gift, and appreciate them a bit more. While they played I got the ribs in the crock pot and made some dishes for dinner. Our gift opening session lasted about an hour and a half. We open them one at a time, cleaning up after each one. The kids were super excited to get things they didn't expect. Especially the boys. They got some Reebok shoes and Neff jackets they weren't even expecting! Aubrie got A LOT of clothes, and Sophia got a little of everything. She was excited over everything she opened! Ben got some shoes, a golf pro exclusive umbrella, Al-Clad cookware, cuff links, and a few other odds and ends. Ben got me a new camera, along with some clothes and boots. The last gift was for the whole family. Ben surprised us with the XBOX 360 Kinect. I still haven't had a chance to really play it yet. Ben bought the Micheal Jackson Dance game, of course. (The girls favorite!) It was a great Christmas, but a seemed a little empty without my Mom, Dad and brother here.

After all the presents were unwrapped, I headed straight to the kitchen. Dinner was at 5:00 and I still had a lot to get done. Craig and his friend showed up about 3:30. We talked and watched the kids play the Kinect for a bit, while we waited on the Ribs and few other things to cook. We ate around 4:30. The dinner menu this year included; Ribs, Steak, Broccoli Bake, Mashed Potatoes, Jello, Seven Layer Salad, Rolls, and for dessert...Homemade Strawberry Shortcake. It was all super yummy, and I was STUFFED!!! The kids had a great time, and I was exhausted by the time the night was over. I told Ben there was a reason I like to have dinner Christmas Eve. I like relaxing Christmas Day, and also would rather spend my time getting the gifts and house picked up rather than spend it in the kitchen. The cooking wasn't hard, it was just a long day with church, presents, and the cooking. Luckily Craig's friend was great and helped me clean up! I knew I liked her! LOL We closed our night watching Sherlock Holmes, preparing us to see the second one with the kids the following day. Sophia was pooped and fell asleep within the first 5 minutes. It was one fun filled day for her. She kept saying "This is the best day ever! I LOVE Christmas!" Her enthusiasm made all my efforts worth every minute!

The Excitment over EVERY gift begins!!!