Christmas '08

Santa's Treats
Not the traditional Sugar Cookies, but Walnut bars are sooo good!

Jordan lovin' his mom
and vice-versa

The boys got all of us books.
Kevin and I loved it!

Kyler's main wish was a laptop, but mom squashed those dreams
when she told Santa NO WAY,
but he happily settled for a new MP3

That's A LOT of excitement bottled up in a 3 year olds body!

My Cookin' Caleb with his new kitchen.
Hours of fun have already been had.

Jordan made a handmade calendar at school that was a favorite present of mine!

The highlight gift of the year.
Thanks to my parents for the Wii and to Kevin's parents for all of the games.

Caleb and his new kitchen phone. A lot of folks are calling in their orders.

This is the HAPPY DANCE!

Kevin & Tami

Christmas Eve laughter

Merry Christmas everyone!

A brother seeking revenge on the younger sibling.

I feel completely behind in my "blogging" world, but the past couple of weeks have proven to be very busy. Between school cancellations, Christmas celebrations, birthday parties, preparing for a new year in the primary, and an upcoming move this January, I have been swamped!

We did have an incredible Christmas week though. Kevin was busy with work most of Christmas Eve, but when he made it home that night we read the Christmas Nativity, had our usual roast beef sandwich with lots of other goodies, set out our cookies for Santa, sang a few carols, and tried to get to sleep so Santa could make his annual visit. "Luckily" hmmm hmmm...for Kevin and I, Caleb decided that this was the year he was going to catch Santa in our yard. He kept insisting he heard reindeer out on the lawn, and our little 3 year old was up well past midnight waiting for the magic festivities to begin by keeping his little nose pressed tightly to the frosted window. He couldn't grasp the concept of "He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake..." In his mind Santa really, really wanted to wish him a personal Merry Christmas while his older brothers were dreaming of sugar plums (shaped in the form of Wii games and Webkinz animals). It was a Christmas miracle when his tired body **finally** fell asleep and mom and dad could start dreaming of their own sugar plum fairies.

By 3 a.m. we heard our older boys waking up. We knew it was coming from years past, so Santa has gotten a little better at leaving a small gift for them to open under their table-top bedroom tree that they are allowed to open without having to bother their overly tired mom and dad. The boys are also able to go through their stockings, but then back to bed they go until sunshine actually filters into the night sky around 7:00. Caleb was of course wiped out this year, and it took him a minute or two before his eyes were awake enough to realize Santa actually came while he was sleeping (thank you Santa for coming even though our little tyke tried to catch you in action), but boy when he walked into the living room and saw his kitchen ready and waiting for its own little chef, Caleb became the life of the party once again. All Caleb wanted from Santa this year was a kitchen and food , and happy day, **he got it**. Oh wait, I almost forgot....this year while sitting on Santa's knee at the mall, Caleb also requested a juice box in his stocking. This would, of course, ensure him that he wouldn't need to stop opening presents for a measly thing like eating breakfast. Well, Santa remembered the juice box, and made sure all his brothers got one, too. What a smart Santa, and we were successful at opening His presents before I made us all stop for a bite to eat.
I like your way of thinking Caleb!

After the boys played with their new loot for a while we opened up our grandparent gifts. This included a Wii and Wii games, which was by far the highlight of gift opening celebrations. We played the rest of the day and into the night. Thanks to all the grandmas and grandpas who made this Christmas break outstanding with mini-golf, car racing, and bowling . We're still a little obsessed with all the fun that little box is bringing us.

We hope you all had an outstanding Christmas as well. Now, it's time for me to pack it all up and move it to a new house for next year.