Christmas

After we got back from UT, it was time to kick it into high gear to get ready for Christmas.  I still have not figured out how to manage our December birthdays and Christmas at the same time, so Christmas shopping usually gets pushed until after Eli's birthday.  Working this year pushed that back even later.  Anyway, it wasn't our most prepared year (we were those people shopping on Christmas Eve) but we got it done and had some fun moments in between, too.

Our Christmas Eve involved lots of snow and the kids were thrilled when they found out our awesome neighbor was pulling kids on his 4-wheeler.  How fun is that?  These are the types of things I never experienced growing up in CA.  

Super-psyched for the ride:

They had so much fun and got going pretty fast.  It was really fun to watch.

We watched It's a Wonderful Life that day, as per tradition, and then delivered some cookie plates, watched a light show, and came back for our little Christmas program.  We're still figuring out how to use the Christmas bells I bought without it descending into chaos.  Someday... :)

Santa came!

I had to take a picture of the cute little cookie holder Grandma Marsha made last year:

The cookie, milk, and carrot were gone.

Nate was thrilled with his accordion:

He even made up a little ditty that he kept playing throughout the day. 

Eli loved his little toy work bench and loves pounding with his hammer to make things.

The girls loved their Barnes and Noble gift cards and got some great books with them.

Then it was time to open presents.

Natalie got a robe she loved:

Some other highlights were: the karaoke machine I got for Joe and the dust-buster the kids gave him (The kids actually want to clean!  It's a miracle); some cool coloring books and scented markers; my homemade mug from the kids;  and Eli's popper gun. 

I managed to get all the kids in their matching pajamas and smiling (Nate was being super stubborn but I tricked him into smiling):

It was awesome having another white Christmas.  We're 2 for 2 here in Idaho so far.  I had fun playing in the snow with Natalie, Nate and Eli.  The snow was super powdery and impossible to pack so this was our sad little snowman:

Nate's snow angel:

And, we sang a lot of karaoke that day. I loved this one:

Joe and Natalie singing "I See the Light" from Tangled.  It was so cute.

We also joined Tom and Shari and their kids at the theater to watch the new Star Wars movie that day. Then, we all came back to our house for a yummy prime rib dinner.  We finished off the day with some more karaoke.

It was a great day. :)