Our Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone!  After so much anticipation, the holiday always passes so quickly.

Our festivities began at 6:00 a.m., which required waking Lexi.  With 9:00 a.m. church, a sleep sacrifice was necessary!  She didn't mind too much.  After briefly gathering on the stairs for a photo, we released the kids to discover their presents from Santa Claus and attack the packages under the tree.

What followed was a joyful celebration full of smiles, yelps of excitement, and expressions of thanks all around.  

Santa brought Lexi a shopping cart.  She pushed it around a bit, and then filled it up with goodies from her stocking.  She was especially excited about her very own "gubble gum."

Gavin saw his present from Santa and yelled, "Santa is the best boy EVER for giving me this remote control car!"  When he opened his monkey pillow pet from Granny and Gramps, he said, "I wanted this so badly!"

Tyler jumped up and down when saw his Harry Potter: Years 5-7 game for the Wii.  He offered a few fist pumps and rock star poses, too.  Tyler was very focused on organizing his loot, getting a Ziploc bag for his candy and a laundry basket to carry his things to his room--all before his gifts were opened!

Zach was so busy oohing and ahhing over an NBA Wii game that he didn't even notice the large gift from Mom and Dad, which was prominently displayed across the room.

The kids were all thrilled to see that they had received a trampoline for Christmas.  Mom and Dad didn't get them anything else (besides framed pictures of the Denver Temple to put by their beds), but they couldn't have been happier.

Kate slept through all of the ruckus we created in the living room until about 7:30.  After I gave her a bottle, she participated in a little gift-opening herself.  So far she has enjoyed the play mat Santa brought her.

Our tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve led to five sets of slipper-clad feet.  I was surprised at the kids' excitement over this simple gift!

Garry, Zach, and I also got a stomach virus (or perhaps food poisoning) for Christmas.  Zach was the first to succumb, immediately after dinner last night.  Garry and I had a rough time overnight, and Garry suffered the worst all Christmas Day.  Although my symptoms were somewhat alleviated with Zofran and a little breakfast, Garry was out of commission.  I was involved in musical numbers in Sacrament Meeting, so I packed up Kate and went to church, leaving everyone else behind.  Some sweet friends cared for Kate during the meeting.  Happily, my musical number went off without a hitch.  I was sad that my family missed church on Christmas Day, and that Garry was so ill!  Sickness was a sad element of our holiday.

Garry and I have reflected with fondness on Christmas 2010, which was the day I found out I was pregnant with Kate.  Garry discovered a positive pregnancy test in his stocking, and we spent the day basking in our happy news.  We had no idea what the next year would hold, but we are glad to have survived the treacherous journey and are so very grateful for the beautiful, healthy daughter who came to our family!

And finally, I love this picture of our little house, all decked in Christmas cheer.  We had a snowy-white Christmas this year, too.  It was a lovely holiday.