Happy Christmas 2011

Christmas was spec-ta-cu-laaa!

Haha!  Seriously, yes...it was actually a very calm and peaceful day.  

I don't know if "calm" is ever, the word you would use to describe it.    

But it truly was.

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First, Christmas Eve was awesome.

All the small kiddies waiting for dinner.

We spent the day with family... grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles & cousins.  All squished into Grandma & Grandpa's house.  I think the men have a hard time at my parents house, it's quite small, but the rest of us are used to close quarters.  And the kids love Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I'm sure the guys love it too..hopefully.  

The cousins...beautiful girls!

Aunt Emily and Benjamin

We had dinner early and then played the "dice" game.  My siblings and I played it when we were younger, with our extended family on Christmas eve.  We obviously, have not grown out of it.  You pass around a set of dice in a pie tin and you have to roll doubles to pick a gift from the center pile.  Once you pick a gift, it can be "stolen", twice, and then after that, no more.  When everyone has a gift, the game ends.  

Ta da!

Fun, huh?

We also were able to Skype, with my brother, who lives in Utah.  We all miss him soo much!!

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On Christmas morning, I wanted to video the kids coming out of their rooms,seeing the tree and gifts, so I set my alarm.  This way, I could turn the tree lights on, and get my camera ready.  Thankfully, I was up in enough time...I wasn't sure if I would.  I was exhausted from the day before.  

Christmas morning, Santa came!

*Oh, and P.S.  I tried uploading the video, but blogger wouldn't do it.  Booooo.*

The kids had a blast.  They enjoyed looking through their stockings and opening gifts.  It was so awesome to watch them open gifts and see how excited they were.  This year, I was really excited about buying gifts for Ben.  In the past, it has been difficult to buy for him, because he doesn't know how to play with toys correctly.  He would just "mouth" everything.  In the past year, he has grown so much and with the help of his therapists, I was able to see what gets his "wheels turning" and things that would really interest him.  

Opening gifts!

Shortly after opening gifts we had breakfast and then got ready for church.  I was surprised at how easy it was to get them ready to leave.  I thought I would have to fight Elizabeth to leave all of her toys, but she was excited to get dressed into her "Princess" dress.  We had just picked up her Christmas dress the week before and she actually remembered.  And of course, Ben is so easy going..love that freaking kid.   

All ready for church

So off we went to church!

Christmas this year, has been filled with many surprises and immense blessings.  I am so grateful for the Christmas season, when we are able to fully celebrate the life and birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for His life on this earth and the perfect example He gave.  I love Christmas and am always sad the day comes and is gone.  It's been an awesome month with the kids and all the new things we were able to do together.  

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!  

And here's to a happy, safe and wonderful 

NEW YEAR!!