Christmas Eve: Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

I seriously can't believe we finally made it to Christmas Eve! I've had issues sleeping through the night due to my excitement for Christmas to come! I even asked if we could celebrate Christmas the morning after we got to Idaho. The day was very relaxed and full of games, lounging, and thinking of Christ. There was also a continuous countdown going on, in my mind, to 7 pm.

 We ate dinner on time so we could clean up and read about the birth of Christ. April prepared for the kids and brought nativity stickers to follow along.

Alaura (9 months)

Molly and Liam (or Lee-lam)

After the nativity we met in the smallest room to let loose with a major amount of noise and energy!

Then Anne came home!!

And Santa came!! "I know him!" This is actually the Santa that I grew up with. 

Look in the mirror! Jake knows him too!

 Crew and Dallin got the bells while we sang!

 Santa brought Christmas gifts for everyone. (Pajamas)

Sawyer hid far, far away from Santa. 

I think Santa stopped at a few houses tonight, but Dallin kept on saying, "I have to ask you something. . . " Followed by some random comment. He didn't want Santa to go!

Christmas pajamas!

Bad Guys and Pirates

Crew and Sawyer were introduced to a new childhood game. "Bad guys." (I am pretty sure Dallin helped enlighten all of the younger cousins on this topic.) Crew and Sawyer often came up to me and told me, with a snarl on their face, that they were getting the "bad guys." They also informed me they were playing the part of the bad guys?! I got slightly confused on who had what role but it was still fun to watch them haul their light sabers around protecting us all from harm!

After cutting out some fabric they then turned into pirates fighting bad guys!

Kenzie usually kept up with the rowdy boys but occasionally came back for some snuggles and quieter moments with the moms and grandma.

Idaho: The Zoo

The zoo isn't normally open during the winter, but they opened it up one day before Christmas.  It was somewhat cold for my family, but it was fun for them to see animals.

Dallin designated me as his buddy and would always run to grab my hand before heading onto the next animal.

"Tiger"

We knew that Santa would be coming to our house Christmas Eve and so we skillfully got the kids past Santa without them even noticing. To be honest, I am pretty sure they wouldn't have wanted to talk to Santa anyway!

Giant Icicle

This morning Abe brought in a giant icicle for the boys to look at. Sawyer was amazed!

Church Christmas Party

Our ward party was a success! I can only hope the potato casserole I took was a success as well. It was in a huge pan, cooked for 3 hours, and I forgot to taste it to make sure all was as it should be. Our young men and women were the servers for our dinner so I did not get to choose what I got. It sure is nice being served my dinner! I don't have to try and juggle three plates, two kids, the other people, and then make my way back to a table.

We had the nativity story put on by the primary kids. Crew loved watching his friend Owen, the donkey. Crew was thrilled to see Santa and even wanted (major jaw drop) to sit on Santa's lap. Then he even spoke to Santa! (Gasping! Even more shocked!!) Sawyer, not so much.

his first glimpse of Santa

Owen struck this pose every time he saw my Camera out!

He is smiling! Smiling!!! He got on Santa's lap, looked Santa in the eye, spoke to Santa. . . . It is a Christmas miracle!! Crew even remembered his manners and told Santa, "thank you!" 

Orange Smiles

After tricking my boys into eating their dinner and laughing during much of it, we decided to have oranges for dessert. I taught the boys how to make the oranges look like teeth and they thought it was hilarious. 

Crew got a little creative and goofy! Sawyer was giving Crew all the laughs he wanted!

Christmas Gift: Crew

Crew has been very excited about Christmas and into the Christmas spirit. He was getting a little too focused on what he wanted for himself so we decided we needed to go Christmas shopping for others. He picked out a gift for a friend and used his money (and some other money I sneaked onto the counter) to buy a gift for his friend Owen. We wrapped the gift together, I held his hand to help write a special note, and he drew a picture. So far he hasn't spilled the beans and has kept his gift a surprise!