Christmas 2009

We started our Christmas season with the decorating of the tree. Usually Elizabeth, Abby, and Josh have their own tree and I have the main tree. (What can I say I am my mother's daughter!) As the girls were decorating their small tree we discovered that they have collected alot of ornaments. Thanks to both sets of grandparents, and the small tree was no longer big enough to hold all of their ornaments. So with a sigh I gave up my tree and let them put their ornaments on it. And so I didn't decorate a tree this year, oh well maybe next year!

The Wednesday before Christmas we went over to my parents house to have Christmas with everyone there. Cory and Adam's family were leaving to spend Christmas with Adam's family up at Bear Lake. We had a wonderful ham dinner and got ready to open up presents. The kids were so excited to open presents. Before the excess of presents started we went around the room and bore our testimonies to each other. This is a tradition in my family to do this every Christmas. My dad says that it is the best present that he receives all year. Of course he still wants the Home Depot gifts cards also. We started with each of the kids and they, with help, bore their testimonies of the Church and then moved onto the adults. It was a wonderful time to share with everyone.

Conrad got a full football outfit padding and all from my dad. And of course it was true blue BYU! Abby got her baby in a stroller that she has been saying she was going to get for months. She later told Josh that she was a nice mother. He asked her "Well isn't mommy a nicer mother?" With a pause and a look only Abby can give she said, "She makes me clean the toy room!" So here is to all you not nice mothers who make your kids clean up the messes that they make! Cory got a cricut expression machine that she really really wanted but didn't know she was going to get. I just love those kind of gifts that they aren't expecting and are so surprised. All and all it was a wonderful night spent with family. The kids were so cute and just a bit spoiled...well a lot spoiled!

On Christmas eve we left chocolates and carrots out for Santa and his reindeer's, and read the book The Night Before Christmas. We all opened our Christmas pj's to sleep in. The girls went to bed and Elizabeth asked us to hurry and go to bed too so that Santa could come. The next morning and I mean MORNING, the kids got up about 530 or 6 AM that morning and got us up to go down stairs! Christmas was over in a matter of minutes and the girls were busy playing with all the new toys from grandma and grandpa and Santa! They loved everything and were already thinking of next year. That evening we went to my parents house and my mom and I made a full turkey dinner for us. It has been a wonderful Christmas.

About 5 days later we got around to making the gingerbread houses that I got for us to make with Jake and Lisa but Abby was sick on the day we were going to go so we never made them. But the girls had fun making their own houses.