Such a big MIRACLE in such a little child

I forgot to blog about this in my last post. One of the last things the kids did before they went to bed was make Santa a plate. Which consisted of eggnog, pumpkin pie, and carrots for the reindeer of course. They also wrote Santa a note and left paper for Santa to write back with. The kids didn't wake us up too early on Christmas. As a matter of fact I think we all stumbled out of bed around the same time. We got up at 7. But before we could go downstairs and see what the big man had brought the kids had to get their pictures taken and Tyler and Ella had to read the note that Santa had written back. Tyler's note to Santa went something like this. Dear Santa, Thank you for all of the presents you brought. How do you get to all of the houses in one night. How bright is Rudolph's nose? Thanks Tyler. Santa wrote back. Tyler, You have been such a good boy this year. I use the space time continuum to get to all of the houses. Rudolph's nose is more auburn really. It has an auto dim feature. Santa.Ella wrote, Santa, I love you. You are nice. You hold my heart. Santa wrote: Ella you have been such a nice girl this year. Thanks for the treats and the carrots for the reindeer. Santa.The kids then got their traditional Christmas morning picture.Then they raced downstairs to see what Santa had brought them.This is Natalie's chair. Santa brought her... Mad Gab, a saxophone decal for her wall, a 25.00 gift certificate for Old Navy, a flat iron and some stocking stuffers. Mom and Dad got her... 2 new shirts and a saxophone (which she hasn't received yet because it is in with our shipped items). She also got $25 from Pam and David. Nichole made her a headboard, Tyler made her an ornament and my parents got her some pajama's (which too is with our other things)Tyler's Chair. He got... The sonic colors wii game, 2 movies (The sorcerer's apprentice and Diary of a wimpy kid) with a huge bag of starbursts, and some spy gear. Which is super cool because it is a remote control car that you can record things with. You can also see what you are recording on the remote. He also got stocking stuffers. From mom and dad he got a BB gun, a new shirt, and a new jacket. He got Brownies from Natalie (which the dog ate an hour later), and a notebook from Ella. He got Snow boots from Pam and David and Pajama's from my mom and dad (both of which are with our other things)This is Ella's chair. Santa brought her... A razor scooter, a pillow pet and zhu zhu pet airplane and airport. As well as stocking stuffers. From Nate and I she got. A new dress and jacket, and a video recording Barbie. It is pretty cool because it records the video and you can watch it right there on the barbie or download it to your computer. She got snow boots from Pam and David and Pajamas from my dad and mom (both of which will be here on Monday) She also got a necklace making kit from Tyler.Nichole's Chair. From Santa she got... a banana chair, the game curses, and a 50 dollar gift certificate to Old Navy. She also got a blow dryer and some stocking stuffers. From Pam and David she got $25. From Nate and I she got a new shirt and a new sweater. She also got a cool box for her room (with our other stuff of course) and from my parents she got Pajamas (with our other things). She also got a box of popcorn and chocolate covered popcorn from Ella and a thing of hot chocolate from Tyler.Ella just loved her pillow pet and named it spotty.This is the cool headboard that Nichole made for Natalie.Nate got a Kindle for Christmas as well as a leather cover for it and a 40 dollar gift certificate to amazon to buy books for it. Tyler got him hot chocolate. His parents got him $75.00. His Grandparents got him a picture of Christ to hang up in the house. He also got stocking stuffers.I got a whole bunch of DVD's, The 6th vampire academy book, cookie sheets, $30.00 gift certificate to the movies and stocking stuffers from Nate. I got $75.00 from Pam and David. Hot cocoa mix from Tyler. The Christmas sweater book and a gym pass- Thanks Mindy. And I got a funny book called Don't you hate it from JoLynn- Thanks JoJo.Tyler is quite a good shot.Nichole in her Christmas outfit.Natalie in her Christmas outfitElla with her blue tongue from her pixie sticksTyler showing off his lego toy.Tyler in his Christmas outfit with his huge bag of candy.

All in all we had a wonderful Christmas. The Lord has blessed us in many ways this year. I am grateful for The Savior. For His humble birth and for His atoning sacrifice he made for each and everyone of us.

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age. ~Carrie Latet

Oh how I love Christmas time. At our house Christmas Eve yields as many Christmas traditions as does Christmas Day. We always start and end the day with a quick pick up of the house. After that the cooking begins. We always have huge feast. Followed by a trip to the tower to look for Santa. Then we rush home to change into our Christmas Jammies, watch a Christmas movie, eat pie and drink eggnog, set up our chairs, read the Christmas story, and head to bed. The day is packed of excitement and it takes a while for the kids to settle down. I love hearing them giggle and eventually fall asleep together all sleeping in the same room.Nichole made this Nativity for us to display. She made it out of tin foil.The girls all helped me cook our dinner. Ella quickly gave up and ended up helping Tyler pick up the house again.I wanted a normal shot of the family waiting for dinner. But nope they would not cooperate and I gave up. Those turds. We had quite a feast for dinner. We had ham, yummy potatoes, chicken wings, mac and cheese, bread sticks, and Brussel sprouts. When I was deciding the menu I gathered everyone together and told them to tell me what they wanted. This is what we came up with. For dessert we had pecan pie, pumpkin pie (I made it from scratch for the first time ever), and coconut bread.After our dinner we headed over to the tower to look for Santa Claus. We have done this for at least 7 years now. The kids look and look for the flashing light of Rudolph's nose. Someone always spots it, so of course we have to rush home and get ready for the night so we can be asleep before Santa makes it to our house.The tower at Nate's work is about 13 stories tall. Luckily there is a working elevator to get us to the top. The big girls decided to walk down the stairs instead of take the elevator. You can easily see Natalie's face as she is peeking over the edge but you can't as easily see Nichole's face about 4 more flights of stairs up. It is kinda freaky to look down from the top floor and see the very bottom floor.Every Christmas Eve we open Christmas jammies to wear Christmas morning and almost all of Christmas Day. This year was a little different because Natalie, Nichole, and My pajama's were still packed away waiting for the movers we didn't have pajama's to open. Nate came up with a creative solution. He took Natalie and Nichole out to pick out a pair of slipper's and I got to open up my blanket that I had picked out a few days prior. At least we all had something vaguely Pajamaish to us or wear for Christmas morning. I asked the little kids to wrap Nichole and Natalie's slipper's. Apparently we were running low on paper and both of them only got their slippers only part of the way wrapped up.

After we opened up our presents we watched our Christmas movie. This year we watched A Christmas Carol. It was really interesting to watch on a 8 inch screen. I served out dessert and eggnog while we watched the movie. When that was over the kids set up their chair in the room. Their chair is where Santa leaves their gifts. Then they also up their stockings, their Christmas cereal, and their Christmas fruit on their chair too. After that the kids all went to bed in Tyler's room. I can in and read to them the account of our Savior's birth. The kids fell asleep rather quickly for it being Christmas Eve and all.