Merry Little Christmas

Christmas 2008 was a sweet simple affair spent with family.

Christmas Eve is always spent at my parents house in St. George. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner with all the fixins' and then we all participated in the Christmas program complete with scripture reading and Christmas carols. The boys were so excited to open their presents that the "reverent" part of Christmas Eve was a little less so with them whining for gifts. It was great to spend time with the Burton's and exchange presents. My mom always gives the boys Christmas books and we're amassing quite the collection. We had to read the stories over and over and Tucker insisted on sleeping with his new storybook.

Here's a few of our favorites...

Driving back to Cedar about 11:00 put us right in the middle of a snow storm and although it was a little scary, it was fun to drive in a winter wonderland. Tucker kept telling us he could see "Santa Cwaus" flying outside the window with his "wain-deer". After we got the boys to bed- we set up all the presents and fell into bed exhausted.

We really enjoyed our little Christmas here in Cedar. The boys loved all their gifts and I think Danny had just as much fun with the train set and remote control cars as the boys did... Thad just crawled around and played with the wrapping paper the entire time and was our little Christmas angel.

Thankfully, the boys weren't so excited that they woke up too terribly early- so we all rolled out of bed around 11:30 and had a leisurely Christmas brunch. Danny made a delicious breakfast for all of us to enjoy and the boys were wriggling with excitement in their high chairs looking at all the presents under the tree.

The boys were thrilled with all their loot from Santa- making a gorgeous mess all over the living room for a few hours. After all the excitement, I then laid them down on their "tristmas pillows" with some red and green milk (food coloring) Dan gave them and we watched Christmas movies the rest of the afternoon. They had to have their new toys all around them- but were quite content to lay down and relax. A Perfect Christmas Day.

The biggest hit were these obnoxious noisy Diesels that Dan found. The boys love driving them around in the kitchen and honestly I think we could've just given them that one toy and they would have been thrilled. They all got tons of clothes, a new bicycle each, a train set and more cars and trucks than 3 boys will EVER need. They got crayons and coloring books and a bunch of new bath toys and accessories in their stockings. They also got new bedding and blankets that I made. Danny found a cute little bowling set that they have loved setting up in the hall and chucking the plastic bowling ball at.
Danny was really sweet and got me some great gifts this year. He sent Jodi out on a spending spree, so she picked out some fabulous clothes and jewelry for me and then he got me some great stocking stuffers ( perfume, a new Bumble watch, gift cards to various stores) and some comfy new sweater boots.

This year was fun for Tucker. He is finally grasping the idea of Santa and keeps showing us all of the presents Santa brought him. He keeps asking us when Santa is coming back and continues shrieking Jingle Bells at the top of his lungs...

Dan's parents came down to visit us over the weekend and that dragged out the holiday a little bit longer. They always spoil us and the boys loved opening more gifts. I seriously need to clean out the closets and give away half of everything we own to the D.I. to make room for all the new junk we got!!

I really enjoyed the holiday- but I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the New Year and the changes it will bring. I've never been so happy to take down the tree and start on the deep cleaning as I have been this year. The house always seems so much bigger after all the holiday decorations are put away...

Here's wishing you all Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year!!

Happy Holidays!