Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke our kids up at 6 am. Yep, that's right, we woke them up. Only because all their cousins were awake and ready to open presents, but it was pretty funny having to tell them to get out of bed to see if Santa came, it felt very backwards. It was hilarious waking Jayna up because she was sick and had an ear infection so she couldn't hear very well. We were yelling "JAYNA, wake up! It's Christmas, let's go see if Santa came!" And she was just looking at us, and yelling "What?" Haha, but once she figured it out she was so excited.

So happy that Santa brought her Woody!

Kepler, Sami and Samantha

Already setting up lego sets

Ready to open presents

Kepler taking a break from opening and actually playing with his toys, he could have played with this all morning

Eating a candy cane for breakfast

Scott built a rink in their backyard, and Jesse had the hugest smile on his face when he was playing hockey with his new skates

Checking out Brett's amazing lego set he built

Kepler all day "Buzz! I got Buzz"

This kid was SO happy with all his toys. He barely put these 2 down all day. Grandpa would have been proud to see him open his "sweet boat"!

Best family pic we could get, Jayna wasn't feeling the greatest

One of the most exciting things that happened this year, was that my other sister Mona had her baby on Christmas Day! It was pretty exciting, we can't wait to meet cute little Zara!

I can't believe it's already over for another year. It was so special getting to spend this Christmas with some of my family, and for the kids getting to be with their cousins. Thanks so much for having us!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve there were about 40 people over at my sister's hosue, and it didn't even feel crowded. The kids were playing and watching a Christmas movie in the basement and the adults were upstairs eating and talking.

Cassandra and me

Samantha looking cute!

Kepler staying up way too late, but happy with kie kie

Jayna putting out her stocking

The kids in their Christmas jammies

The kids were so excited, but exhausted from staying up so late. When Jayna was going to bed she said to me "Mommy, do you think I'll hear Santa say Ho Ho Ho when he comes? If I do I won't get out of bed, because then he might not leave me my presents."

Merry Christmas!

Party time!

One of the fun (and exhausting) things about December is all the Christmas parties.

Our Ward Christmas Party at the beginning of the month had lots of games for the kids
Pin the nose on Rudolph
Hanging Christmas Wreath (aka eat a donut off a string), this was so funny to watch

Gathering Snowballs (this game kept the 2 year olds entertained for most of the night)

Jayna had a pajama party at school, she was so excited she wouldn't even pose for a picture until she finished dancing and jumping around

We tried to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers this year and they just kept collapsing. At least the kids still had fun.

Eating Rudolph for our preschool snack

Jayna's preschool Christmas party

And this has nothing to do with December or parties, but it was so cute. Kepler is still so snuggly, even when he's getting a shoulder ride. He's been sick this week and so he's even more snuggly than usual. I love the extra love, but carrying around 29 extra pounds all day is tiring.

We leave for Ontario for Christmas on Tuesday, we can't wait! We'll be the ones with a million suitcases for the 4 of us since we're bringing all our presents with us.

Fancy

Tonight our advent calendar activity was to
"Dress fancy for a fancy Christmas dinner."
It was definitely the most fun activity so far. We had fancy chicken, fancy rice, fancy salad and even fancy water. It's amazing how much better fancy water tastes than normal water!
We used our fancy Christmas tablecloth and fancy Christmas dishes (thanks Aunt Mona!) and fancy napkin rings and fancy candles and had fancy Christmas music playing in the background.


Jayna thinks we should dress like this every day

Pinkies up!

Kepler trying to do pinkies up, but giving a thumbs up instead

We called each other darling and had impeccable manners
(except when Kepler spilled his water and egg nog)

These 2 pictures sum up how exciting the night was

And of course you can't have a fancy dinner without having a fancy dance after

Jayna getting dipped

We ended off the night with a fancy drink (egg nog) and fancy dessert (cookies). And then we had to read Fancy Nancy's Splendiferous Christmas before bed.
Night night darlings! Can't wait to do this again next Christmas.

Santa

Santa Photo 2010
Sometimes our kids are so predictable.

Jayna just decided this year that she wasn't scared of Santa anymore because he's nice, and that she was going to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted. And once she makes up her mind to do something, she just does it.

Kepler was scared of Santa but was trying to be brave, because he wanted to be like Jayna. Before we went he would say "I like Santa, Santa nice... .No, I don't want to sit on Santa's lap!" We didn't force him, but as soon as he saw Jayna get excited and go up he had to be like his big sister. I love his face, his expression shows perfectly how he was really nervous, but trying to be brave.

Jayna asked for Woody and Kepler asked for Buzz, how convenient! ;)

Letters to Santa

24 days and counting

Is it Christmas yet??
It feels like it is just around the corner for me, but for my 4 and 2 year old it cannot come soon enough!

Setting up and decorating the tree

Our friends the McCoy's gave us an Elf on the Shelf this year. We're all really excited about this new tradition. Jayna and Kepler named him Star. He's only been here for 2 days, but he's already very loved by everyone!

And the advent calendar (idea from here)! For the kids enjoyment and my sanity.