"The Scene" on Christmas morning. As usual, we had a great Christmas and felt very spoiled! It is amazing how much the kids' anticipation adds to the excitement and enjoyment of the holiday. Ben fully understood and partially remembered what Christmas is like, which led to him building up Erin's excitement and understanding. She did get a little confused, knowing that only the birthday child receives gifts on a birthday, it was hard to comprehend EVERYONE giving and RECEIVING gifts. Noah was just happy to be part of the party! Even with all of our running around, Christmas partying, and a pre-Christmas sleepover at Nana and Papa's, he was in a great mood on Christmas Day.
Ben and Erin wanted to make sure Noah knew how to work all his new toys by demonstrating to him first.
My parent's came down at 7am to see our kids open presents, we actually had to wake the kids up after wearing them out over the week. While my parents headed to my brother's house, we got ready and headed to Sandy to meet them for their 10am sacrament meeting.
The kids were being so patient waiting for the party to start. They did however enjoy the opportunity to pass some wait time with Papa's ipad. After a tasty lunch, it was time for PRESENTS!
I think the pic above perfectly demonstrates the face you want to see on your child on Christmas day. Love it!!! The great part is, that face was for some dress-up shoes. I thought she might pass out when Nana and Papa gave her a bike!
Ben's faces were equally satisfying. He got a REAL tool set, just like daddy's and an awesome remote control car!
Noah also loved all his presents, unfortunately he slept through the opening of said gifts. He had missed so many naps that week, then was woken up early, so he crashed just before lunch and didn't wake up 'til the fun was over.
Erin was trying so hard to be patient, but she was dying to ride her bike, so Mommy and Papa took her out. She did amazingly well for a first timer on that huge bike! It actually took her several days (and crashes) before she would ride with any caution or regard to consequence whatsoever.
Once we got home that evening, it was time for Christmas III! We skyped with Grandma & Grandpa in Hawaii while opening more gifts. We know it was hard for them to be gone again this Christmas, but we appreciate their example of sacrifice, love, and obedience as they serve a mission. Since they're so far away, I thought the kind thing to do would be to help them with their shopping for us. Coincidentally, guess who got a new TV for Christmas? ;)
In case anyone is wondering, this is what a living room looks like 3 Christmas explosions later.
Ah, and now for the promised reveal. Brandon and I decided to take up smoking this year with the aide of my parents. They gave us this awesome Traeger smoker! We are still experimenting with it's delicious powers, but I don't know if you can go wrong with this thing! Life is tasty!
Well it was indeed a very, merry Christmas for us. I think the best part was having Brandon home for 17 straight days! It was awesome. You'd think with all that time off that we would have had a chance to put together a Christmas card, but no such luck. Sorry. But we are very grateful for our family and friends and love you all. We've been very blessed in 2011 and have so much to look forward to in 2012. I hope all of you had a great holiday season as well and are starting an exciting New Year!
