Christmas.....

Well, this is our first Christmas that we are staying in Utah. The last couple of years we have stayed Christmas morning and then packed up and headed to Idaho but this year we decided to stay home. It was bittersweet..we missed being with the extended family but we also enjoyed being together as our small little family.

Because we are staying home, we are able to start our own family traditions. We made cookies on Christmas Eve day and set some out for Santa. We have a special Santa key that we leave outside on the front door because we don't have a chimney. (Calista was worried that someone else might find it and use it to get inside our house..we had to explain that Santa used magic to make it work so it wouldn't work for just anybody.) We had home made Clam Chowder for dinner. The kids got to open up new jammies and the family got a new game - UNO Attack - we played it for awhile. We tracked Santa via www.noradsanta.org and when he got close to our house, we settled in and I showed the kids this video and reminded them again that this is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

The kids had a great Christmas...Calista wanted a DSi SO SO SO bad..but Jeff & I didn't really like the idea of the kids having a game to carry around with them all the time. But as Christmas grew closer - she was determined that a DSi was all she wanted. We warned her that we wouldn't get her one...BUT lucky for her...Santa Claus did!!!

She was so excited!!! And then just periodically throughout the day she would.."I can't believe I got a DS!!!" Isn't that what Christmas is all about...dreams coming true!!

Chance got a Transformer Destructicon..which he really wanted and Hailey got a LIV doll with a pink wig.

It was a nice relaxing day..we stayed in our jammies for most of the day and played with our new toys...we got a couple of new Wii games and who knew that I would end up LOVING Rockband so much! I stayed up until close to 2am playing the guitar. I have the blister on my thumb to prove it!

Our Christmas was wonderful and I hope all my friends and family had a MARVELOUS Christmas too.

Here are the kids waiting at the top of the stairs...

The BIG SURPRISE from Santa...DS & Games

They are so excited for their DS's

I love Hailey's expression in this photo!

Transformer Destructicon

Barbie Nail Printer
(still haven't gotten this to work..but it will be cool when it FINALLY works!)

Holidays in a Flash!!

Wow - the holidays came and went so fast!!!

We spent Christmas at home and then headed up to Burley, Idaho on Dec. 27. The trip was postponed for a day because the roads in Idaho were closed all day on Dec 26. I was worried about how bad the roads would be but they were great in Idaho - horrible in Ogden, Utah. It was a sheer sheet of ice and took us an extra 30-40 minutes. We did have to go slower than normal and the overall trip took us an extra 2 hours.

Jeff's family was nice enough to hold dinner for us until we got there. We ate and then opened up gifts. The kids played Wii all night and the adults visited. The girls did some crafts Sunday afternoon while the guys hung out (and watched kids)! Most of the crafts were from my Super Saturday but we also did the wood blocks on my previous post. Instead of Believe - they have our last name. I'll post a pic later.

We came home on Monday. We spent New Year's Eve with our friends in Santaquin and then spent ALL day at another friend's house on New Year's Day. Thank for letting us hang out ALL day - Laurie! We got home at 1am and fell into bed. Slept in on Friday and read 3 books. I had a YW meeting Saturday morning and then drove to Farmington to meet my niece. (FYI for Alisha - I checked out Bukkos while I was in Farmington. They said there are rumors that they may be closing....not sure when.)

We had church on Sunday and then the vacation was over. I feel like I need a vacation from the vacation!!! I'm exhausted and the kids were so tired today that I couldn't get them up for school. Although, it is nice to be back to some sort of schedule and routine.

Hope all your holidays were just as great and everyone has an awesome 2009!

And for your viewing pleasure - a few Christmas pics.

Jeff got the game that he wanted - although the kids warned him that they would take it away if there was any cussing!!

Calista was very excited to get HSM Sharpay doll - she's showing Hailey all the stuff it came with.

Who wrapped this gift anyway??

Laser Tag - not sure if this was more for Dad or for Chance.

Just Kidding! Chance has loved it!

The picture says it all!!