Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas. We spent a few hours with my family at my mom's house Christmas eve. The steak and lobster dinner was served, despite the absence of my dad but Mom also fixed salmon and chicken. It was really good. Then we headed home for our own Christmas eve rituals. Everyone got to open and put on their new pjs then we read our Christmas story. Afterwards, the kids headed to bed. I've never seen them get to bed so quickly, the one night out of the entire year that nobody stalls. They were really worried that Santa was going to show up at our house and they wouldn't be asleep and he might skip us. This concern stemmed from the fact that as we drove across the valley from Grandma's house to our house, we're pretty sure we saw Rudolph's red nose in the sky on the west side of Cache Valley. So we knew it wouldn't be long before Santa reached the south bench in Providence.

Skip to Christmas morning. Brent and I have always been so lucky to have kids that are NOT typically early risers and Christmas morning is no exception at our house. Brent got up to work-out at 6:30 and I headed out the door to run shortly after 7:30. When I got home at 8:20 Brooklyn was the only one up, she was helping Brent make breakfast. They made pancakes and Brent made a special pancake for Ellie. It was huge and had peanut butter on it, along with her medicine (she has allergies). It was 9:30 before we all made it down to the family room to open presents.

Ellie's Pancake


The kids seemed pleased with what they received. Santa brought Damon a battery-powered Jeep and the girls each got a motorized scooter. Oh, and Ellie got some new tennis balls and a couple of chew toys. I tell ya, if dogs could smile...






Brent moved the couches so the kids had room to maneuver their toys. We'll have to be sure and warn the neighbors to get out of the way once the kids are able to take their new rides outside. Damon drove his Jeep into the tree.



The very best part of the day was that we didn't have to go anywhere. There was no loading up the car with gifts and kids, no balancing food on our laps while driving, no rounding up kids and re-loading the car to head back home, pretty much no chaos. It was great and I've made the executive decision that every Christmas day, from here on out will be like this for us. It was so nice that we weren't in a hurry to get somewhere. The kids stayed in their pajamas most of the day and they actually got to enjoy their gifts rather than having to set them aside and run off to another party.

We did have Brent's family over in the late afternoon. We had a good time with them eating, playing the silly games that I made everyone play, and eating some more.

I love Christmas and I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend time with family and reflect upon the Savior's birth. I hope your holiday was as good as ours.