Why it's Christmas Day!!!! Merry Merry Christmas! Most fun day of the year. The kids all slept together upstairs under the upstairs Christmas tree. Of course they woke up pretty early but seeing as how I couldn't go to bed till like 3:00...too excited...Toby and I didn't get up till we couldn't sleep through their texts any longer at like 7:00. We went upstairs and had a morning prayer together and we gave our "gifts" to Jesus by writing them all down on paper. Then the kiddos lined up, youngest to oldest, we took their pictures and let them run downstairs!!! Their faces were priceless. It was so much fun watching them get so excited and open such neat gifts. We tried really hard to not over due it this year and we told Santa the same thing. We tried to do very practical but useful gifts that were educational or that wouldn't break or get lost in the shuffle. Lots of Legos, books, science projects, things like that. It was awesome. They then ate their breakfast boxes and then we headed over to Grandma Kathys. Of course we all stayed in our Christmas Pj's. At Kathys we just snacked and then opened presents together over there. Elle was so excited to get Thoroughly Modern Millie and a new Ukulele, Cash got the coolest mini skateboard set and a sweet Nerf type gun, and the boys got some awesome legos and a couple other little things. We gave Kathy a beautiful Pink Book of Mormon, a journaling edition, and a cute pink coat. It was a great day over there. - After that we headed home to rest for a second and gather things from my moms. As we pulled up to our house I literally gasped outloud! On our front porch was sitting the last gift of our 12 days of Christmas....a snow blower!!!! What the what!!! Honestly it was the most wonderful and perfect gift we could have been given. Because of a few things we figured out it was Josh and the girls giving us the gifts with the cute notes the whole time. I felt like crying tears of thankfulness and joy. Really...what an amazing gift and what incredible service to our family those last 12 days. It will be a Christmas we always remember because of their generosity. Josh knew how hard it has been for Toby to shovel our driveway and we just kept putting off investing in one. Toby could not wipe the smile off our face. It made it the most magical day. I know it wasn't an easy day for him with all he's been through lately but I sure hope he knows how much joy he brought us this year. It's what Christmas is truly all about. Following the example of our Savior. We tried really hard to have a lot of moments with our kids throughout this season to talk about Christ, his birth, Mary, Joseph, the Angels, the Wisemen, and the Shepherds. We tried to do service, give and worship and come to know Christ better. We don't always do as well as I hope but we try. And I think my children are getting it. They feel it. -We ended Christmas Evening by going over to my parents for the best food ever and exchanging gifts with just the kids. As adults we played a white elephant game with generic gifts. It's been really fun to do it that way! I love this last picture of my Dad reading to the kids. He was always so good at doing that with us and now my kids love having him read to them. It was the perfect Christmas day. It really was.
