MeRrY cHrIsTmAs!!!

It seems like every year I'm trying to figure out exactly how WE want to do Christmas in our home. Every year it's a little different. Every year I try to keep what we liked or what worked from years past and change the things that didn't go over so well.

This year we made a special request of Santa. Only one present per child and stockings as usual. We told the kids well before Christmas that this is what we were doing and they were surprisingly more than fine with it! We told them that they would be getting one present from Santa, one from us and one from a sibling. Three gifts in all!

Of course the one from us turned into two, and Christmas pajamas don't really count... and either do items of clothing. So it really amounted to more than just three gifts in the end. But I have to say,

it was just about perfect!

We wrapped all the gifts from us well before Christmas and had them underneath the tree. I think this made waiting for Christmas day that much harder and that much more exciting! And it definitely made Christmas eve that much easier!

Santa doesn't wrap gifts for us, he just sets them out next to our stockings. The kids woke up to see their one gift from Santa. They all seemed thrilled! They took time to look through their stockings and enjoy the gifts brought by Santa.

After waiting a little while for our sick little Talan to wake up we decided that it would be best if we opened gifts without him. So the kids each picked one gift from under the tree to open and then opened them one by one. When those were all opened they went back to the tree for another round until they were all opened. It was so much fun! And I think the kids really enjoyed doing it this way. Finally Christmas morning didn't seem to be over in a matter of seconds and each gift seemed more loved and appreciated!

Carsten got a boomerang in his stocking from Santa. Later we found out that the reason he wanted a boomerang was so that he could kill a kangaroo with it. Nice! Unfortunately for him he got a rubber boomerang that wouldn't do very much damage if any at all. Not to mention that he lives in Utah were kangaroos don't run free in the wild!

Ethan got the new Harry Potter movie in his stocking along with whole bunch of other things.

Reagan was excited to see a mini box of Lucky Charms in her stocking. Her big gift from Santa was a PINK electric scooter and helmet you can see in the bottom of this picture.

Bradon got Madden 10 that he's been wanting for so long!! He was pretty sure that he was getting it by the looks of the package under the tree. Sure enough he was right!

Carsten got a Lacrosse stick!

He wants to get on a Lacrosse team this upcoming year.

His big present from Santa was a helmet and skateboard.

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas for Ethan if he didn't get something Club Penguin! He got the figurines and the jitsu cards. His big gift from santa was a digital camera.

Bradon got a helmet to wear while he skateboards/rides his bike/rides his electric scooter/or does anything that could inflict harm to his noggin! His big gift from Santa was a pitching machine with a net for practicing baseball in the basement.

Reagan had a Hannah Montana Christmas! She got a new Hannah Montana bedspread, a Hannah Montana radio/CD player, and a Hannah Montana microphone! Reagan loves Hannah Montana!

At 12:30 in the afternoon our sick little Talan finally woke up! Fever free and feeling good!

He got a scooter and helmet from Santa.

Are you seeing a helmet trend here?

My good friend Shari's son Marcus, had a bicycle accident on November 6th were he was life flighted to Primary Children's hospital. The back of his head landed on the peg of the bike and punctured a whole in his skull. If he hadn't been wearing his helmet he wouldn't be here with us today! The helmet literally saved his life! We haven't been big helmet pushers in our family but we are starting to think that it's never too late to start!

By the time Talan woke up David was already taking a nap in preparation for our drive to Arizona and missed it. The kids had so much fun having Christmas with Talan. Bradon was so adorably cute with him! Talan was a little dazed and confused and I think the kids pretty much opened all of his presents for him. It was fun for all!

Talan enjoyed his peppermint stick.

And loved his magnadoodle!

I'm hoping this will end his need to write upon my walls!

Talan's most favorite Christmas gift of all was a basketball hoop. This kid loves to "Shoot!"

Another great thing we did this year in the present department is that we told the kids that they could make a few suggestions as to what they wanted for Christmas but we were going to get them what WE wanted to get them weather it was on their suggestion list or not. David and I have decided that our kids don't even really know what's out there. All they know is what their friends have and what they have seen commercials for. And most everything they asked for was WAY EXPENSIVE! And if one asked for a DSi, then they ALL asked for a DSi. And it's really unfortunate but WE are not DSi buyers. And especially not four of them!

So they got what the got...

and it turned out perfect!

MeRrY cHrIsTmAs ToO aLl

AnD tO aLl A gOoD nIgHt!!!