A Great Day (or two)

I would have to say that Christmas this year was one of the best that we have ever had! The boys woke up around 8:30- Christmas miracle #1. Santa always leaves each of them a present in their bedroom- a book, so they brought those in, opened them, and we snuggled up and read them together. Then I proceeded to tell them about how when Mommy was a little girl, her Mom and Dad used to make the kids stay in their room while they showered, put on makeup (well, that was just my Mom, not my Dad- I promise), and fix their hair. By the time they were done, we were so anxious we could hardly stand it! I told them that maybe we should do that this year and was met by some intense protesting. Then I asked them if they wanted to eat breakfast before we opened presents. No again?!

We lined the boys up on the stairs, oldest to youngest, and let them go down and take a look. They were so excited! I loved just taking a step back and watching them- Christmas is a lot more enjoyable when you have older kids in the house! Isaac immediately began to sort all of the presents into piles, and the boys sat down and actually TOOK TURNS opening and watching their brothers open all of their presents. They had a blast, and for the rest of the morning, we barely heard of peep out of them, they were so busy playing, SHARING, and having fun- Christmas miracle #3.

Chris helped me make and clean up a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and crepes- Christmas miracle #4, and then we let the boys break into their stockings.

Here is Jason with his favorite present- an Indiana Jones hat and whip. The whip plays music and makes cool sounds, every little boy's dream!

Isaac only had two things on his list, a game called Piranha Panic, and some snow clothes. Santa didn't disappoint! Adam also got the Jumpin' Monkeys game that he asked Santa for.

The boys couldn't wait to get outside and play in the snow. They played for hours; building a snowman, wrecking the snowman, building another one, destroying it again, you get the idea!

Drinking hot chocolate after playing in the snow.

Chris helped me make and clean up the best Christmas dinner ever- Christmas miracle #5. I'm not exaggerating, I promise. Our turkey was the juiciest, most delicious turkey I have ever eaten. Mmmm. I am getting hungry just writing about it!

And, the very best part about Christmas? I wasn't sick the whole morning! I have been sick all day every day since Thanksgiving, so to have almost a whole day without feeling sick?! Well, that was the very best present of all!!!! Christmas miracle #6!!!

A couple of days after Christmas my parents and Spencer came up to visit. They brought the boys a couple of surprises, and then Chris and Spencer took them to the best sledding hill ever to test out their new sleds from Grandma and Grandpa.

Isaac could have stayed all night!

My mom, dad, and I went and met up with them a little later. I wasn't exactly dressed for sledding, but, my dad put a hat on my head and off we went!

Spencer

This is the only picture I took of our New Year's Eve party. We were undecided about what to do until the day of, when Stephanie, Mike, and Spencer decided to come to up to our house. Jeremy and Alisha came over, we made some great food, played games, and much to Chris's delight, played a little Karaoke.

A few days after New Years, we went down to my parents house for a couple of days (while they were in Idaho) to see my brother, his wife, and their new baby and of course forgot to take pictures. We got back in time to have a little birthday party for Chris.

Jason and Adam are hiding so that when Jeremy and Alisha get here, they can jump out and scare them. This is one of their favorite games.

The boys took it upon themselves to decorate Chris's birthday cake. It was all Isaac's idea. He gathered up some candy, instructed me on where to put the candles, and went to town.

Here is the finished product. A true work of art, I mean seriously, look at the smarties on the suckers. That is talent!

The day after we celebrated Chris's birthday, we headed up to Kimberly and Greg's house for Owen's baby blessing. I didn't take any pictures up there either, but, we had a great time. Now that all of the festivities are over, we are back to our routine. Isaac is back at school (which means I have lost my best little helper during the day), Chris is back at work, and I am back to the usual, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, dishes, cleaning, you get the point.