A Merry "Little" Christmas

On Christmas Eve....we had a little family time together at home.

Had clam chowder, rolls, and sparkling cranberry juice for dinner. Read Luke 2, sang Silent Night, & listened to Christmas carols by the tree. Put on our Christmas pajamas, watched A Christmas Story movie, then nestled the kids snug in their beds until visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

On Christmas Day...we had a little fun with grandpas, grandmas, cousins, aunts, and uncles!

Toby came home from work, closed his eyes for 15 minutes, and at 8:30am the kids were up and ready to head downstairs to see what Santa had brought them. G&G Simmons and Aunt Kylee came over too. George got a coat, a new belt to keep his pants up :), an Ipod Nano, new head phones, a Rubics Cube,(remember those!?)3 new books to read, a LifeSaver Storybook, and a McDonalds gift card. Maya(aka "The Smoothie Queen")got a toy blender that came with 2 glasses, 2 spoons, icecubes, bananas, and lemons, a Barbie cash register, a doll, a Little PetShop set, a strawberry learning laptop, a McD's giftcard, and a Lifesaver Storybook. Nicholas got a learning school bus, a Toy Story flashlight, a dinosaur doodle pad, a toolset, a Thomas Train starter kit, and a Lifesaver Storybook. Grandma and Grandpa also gave them 2 new wiggle cars so they don't all have to fight over the one we already have. This next summer will be wonderful not hearing them scream! They will each have their own to ride, HOORAY! THANKYOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA! Grandma then made Dutch Baby pancakes-so yummy!Grandpa cooked up the sausage, and Daddy cooked up the eggs. Mom got the easy job this year...I slaved over the orange juice.(HaHa)George and Maya set the table and we had a scrumptious Christmas breakfast! Then daddy finally got to go to bed at 10:30am. The kids and I cleaned up the Christmas mess, got dressed, and made some pizza and dessert to take down to the Richards Christmas dinner. After Toby woke up around 3:30pm, we drove down to American Fork (the kids and I all took naps on the way down, it was wonderful!) We arrived at my brothers house and stuffed our bellies again with homemade pizzas, salad, and yummy desserts, the headed up to my mom and dads house to open more gifts. We decided this year we would give service to eachother instead of giving gifts. It was a great idea! (Thanks GayeLynne!) We drew names as usual, but we get to do something nice for that person instead of giving them something material. I am so excited because Chelsey and I are going to do a "kid swap" for our wedding anniversaries this year...I get to take care of cute little Hannah for a few days in June and she gets to take care of my 3 kids for a few days in August (don't know if that's quite fair, but she agreed! What a sweetheart!) My kids will LOVE going to your family cabin Chelsey! All in all, we had a wonderful, busy, (but relaxing)day! Hope you and yours had a Merry "Little" Christmas too!

****Sorry no pictures we took some video footage of the kids on Christmas morning, but I will have to wait for sweet Chelsey to post some family pics on her blog. Thank goodness she always remembers her camera! Love ya Chels!)