Christmas!

I love Christmas! It is probably my most favorite time of the year. I love all the traditions surrounding Christmas, giving gifts, as wells as reflecting on the birth of the Savior.  When we moved out to TX I knew that I wanted to go home for Christmas, to me it's just not Christmas if not spent with my family.  After the drive out here I knew that there was no way I was wanting to jump back in the car with Hunter.  He HATED the drive and made sure everyone knew it.  So the thought of spending 20+hours in the car (one way) with him....yeah, wasn't going to happen.  So early in September when the Army paid us for moving out here I decided I'd take some of that money and buy plane tickets home.  It was money well spent!  I wanted to be home for Christmas and a short plane ride was much easier than a car ride.

We have very simple Christmas traditions, but I love them!  Christmas eve we had dinner with some really good friends, we figured we've known this family for 25ish years.  One of our friends was playing war with Hanna, she beat him (he's 26), and she loved the fact that she beat him.  Then all 3 of my kids started wrestling with him, something my kids LOVE to do.  When it was time to go Shawn said 'Santa just texted me and said he was on his way.  I'd better get to bed.'  Without thinking Hanna said 'well, Santa told me you are on the naughty list.'  We had a good laugh!  After our friends left we got the kids bathed and ready for bed and then read the Christmas story out of Luke 2.  Each year the kids get to open one gift on Christmas eve.  It's always new Christmas jammies from Grandma and Papa, they know that and they love it.  Silly me had them put their jammies on after their bath so of course they had to change into their new ones.  Hunter LOVED his footie jammies.

My older sister, Jamie, spent the night at my parents house with us on Christmas Eve (there was once a time when we all spent the night there together when we were all grown and out of the house...fun times!) so she'd be there first thing in the morning when the kids woke up.  She was the first one up with Hanna and Carter just before 7am. (Carter, Hanna, Hunter, and Jamie all slept in the same room) We had to wake Julianne and Anthony up, and get my dad up, then feed the baby...the kids waited patiently at the top of the stairs till we were all ready.  Oh, and I actually had to wake Hunter up.  I went into the room where he was sleeping and told him Santa had come and he bounced right out of the bed.

First we opened our stockings:

Carter and Hanna got $2 bills and were thrilled.  Hunter didn't get too much, I figured he just wouldn't care about anything but the candy.  And I was correct.  He didn't even ask for help getting the M&M tube open, he busted up the side and ate the whole thing before we were done with out stockings.

Then we opened our gifts.  We do this in a very orderly manner.  By age.  Youngest to oldest, that way the present opening takes more than 5 minutes and everyone gets to see what you've gotten.  I really like doing it that way and the kids are amazingly patient with it too.  

Hunter got some legos and Santa brought a remote control Thomas train.  He was thrilled.

Hanna asked for barbies for Christmas, however she probably has 20 of them.  I told Santa not to bring any more, so he got her this Rapunzel doll that she can style her hair.  I think she loved it.

Carter has been asking for Bey Blades for months now, I had no idea what they were so I told him to ask Santa for them.  And that is exactly what Santa brought.  I'd say he loved them!

When I was growing up each Christmas we'd go to my Grandma Hunter's for breakfast. This was something that I loved and looked forward to.  I loved my Grandma and loved being at her house and she made the best pancakes.  Every year it was the same thing for breakfast on Christmas; Grandma's buttermilk pancakes, sausages, eggs, and chocolate milk.  Now my mom makes Christmas breakfast, the same buttermilk pancake recipe even. And I still love it!  My brother and his family come over for breakfast and we exchange gifts with them when they come.  

On Christmas morning my mom had Andrew and he smiled at her.  Trent was sure it was just gas as he was only 3 weeks old, but it wasn't.  He really smiled at her, I saw it, however, I wasn't fast enough to catch in on camera.  I did try though.

And that's all I got.  He is pretty cute though.

Hunter broke out his new train before we got breakfast going.