Early Christmas

We usually travel each Christmas to see our respective families, but before that we celebrate and have our own quiet Christmas with just the kids. This year was no exception. The kids are a year older and it shows. Their comprehension of the event and ability to express themselves increases our enjoyment as well.

The Night Before Christmas. We made hot chocolate together and then the kids picked a candy cane from the tree to stir it with...
We also made gingerbread cookies together for Santa, but Drew & Matt thought it was important that we leave the reindeer some carrots...

Christmas Morning! I was up an hour before the kids (not by choice), and was ready and waiting with the camera to get a shot of them sprinting toward the tree. Ryan still had a small window of time before he had to leave for work, so this was one morning I didn't want them to sleep in anyway. I left the room for two minutes to use the bathroom, and wouldn't you know, it was the exact time they bounded down the stairs screaming and hollering! As I heard, "Mom, Mom! It's Christmas!", I closed my eyes and tried not to be too disappointed that I was trapped in isolation during a climatic moment. This is Drew opening his stocking. He usually selects and examines each item one at a time and asks questions about everything...

Our baby Brady with his favorite food...

Ah, the first present! Drew opened Iron Man with Matt's help...

Next came Matt with his Daredevil. They were so excited to see what the other got...

Finally the gift coveted most of all... the Spiderman web shooter. Drew told me a few nights before at the ward Christmas party, "Mom, I talked to Santa and he said he was going to bring me the Spiderman Webs! I know he's bringing it to me!" I didn't know Santa was bringing it either, until the night before Christmas at the 11th hour. It was like Ralphie and his gun. They thought there wasn't any more to open until I said, "What's that behind the tree?" After the gift was spotted they didn't even come out from behind the tree to open it. It was like the scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors are fed, because it was a frenzy of paper flying everywhere, and in a nanosecond it was over...After it was over and we said our goodbyes to Daddy, we lounged and talked about how much fun we had and how fortunate we were to have a Christmas. We talked about the shepherds and how their staffs were shaped like a candy cane. We talked about the star on top of the tree and how it helps us remember the Star of Bethlehem that rose in the sky when Christ was born. We talked about how excited we are to see our families and celebrate with them as well. We watched Christmas movies, listened to music, ate lots of chocolates and oranges, cracked nuts with the nutcracker (the kids participated and the shells were flying), and played, played, played. It was a blast.