December 2012 - Christmas, and Post-Christmas

 Christmas Morning 2012!

Evidence that Santa had come....

I know this must be so painful for the kids...ya know, that moment when Mom makes them wait on the stairs so that I can take a picture before they come down and rip open all of the presents! I'm so mean!

Charlie got that cute litte froggy in his stocking and it was love at first sight!

He was a little confused (see his dazed expression?) when we let him open his present from Santa first! Santa nailed it with a little basketball and hoop!

Sweet Lilly was thrilled with her musical tea party set!

Tyler's Lego Ninjago set was definitely on "the list!"

Sam's "Wacky Contraption Lab" was a winner!!!

My favorite part of the morning was putting that little basketball hoop together for Charlie and watching him enjoy it with 100% enthusiasm!! 

Lilly was serving tea and cupcakes before our breakfast was even ready!

Gotta love the aftermath picture! 

(Note to self: The balloons on the banister were to celebrate Jesus' birthday!)

With our new Christmas arrangements of not needing to be anywhere until later in the afternoon, the kids had their first taste of staying in the PJs and playing with their toys AS LONG AS THEY WANTED TO! It was great! I loved not having to rush them to the next location as soon as they had breakfast in their tummies! 

Lilly was loving all of her new treasures (including this fun little stuffed Olivia) and Sam and Tyler had a Lego-fest in their room!

(Charlie was still playing basketball....of course!)

Later that afternoon, (after the kids had plenty of time to play and Charlie even had a nap!), we went up to the my in-laws' house for some extended family fun! 

All of the aunts, uncles, and cousins were there to see each other open presents and enjoy some play time! 

This is Uncle Mark, Aunt Cheryse, Berklee, and Aymslee.

Here is John David, Uncle Dave, James, Ben, Aunt Kathy, and Megan.

Sadly I did not get a decent picture of anyone else (and we missed Bryce's family who were in Maine this year)....but it was fun to get together as usual! 

I think Lilly spent the entire day after Christmas coloring pictures with her new coloring set and book!

I was so happy to get together with my friends for our annual Christmas dinner at the Jensen's house. I'm so grateful that Bobby comes to town so that we can have a reason to get together a few times a year! :)

A few days before New Year's, we took the kids on an adventure downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. This year we did something new and went on TRAX! The kids were extra excited for that!

Beautiful!!!

Charlie thoroughly enjoyed the lights! He couldn't stop smiling!

 He was also extra jolly about going in the Tabernacle!

By this point in our adventure, we were all FREEZING cold and tired...so we headed over to City Creek and went to Kneaders for treats and hot chocolate! 

By the time we took TRAX back it was almost 10:00 pm...which is crazy late for us! But the kids survived (and so did mom!) and I hope they will remember that experience as a FUN one!