Christmas Day!

I have a few posts to get done before the new year. I am determined to be caught up before 2010 hits! Christmas this year was super fun and BUSY. On Christmas Eve we got together with two families in our ward for dinner and to act out the nativity. It was so much fun. So fun that we all forgot to take any pictures. Ah well. We did it, it was great.

We were really prepared for Christmas this year so on Christmas eve all we had to do was stuff stockings and put everything beneath the tree. We watched a movie together and were in bed by 10 p.m. An early record in our marriage for sure! We took bets on when we thought the kids would wake up and guessed it would be around 5:30 since Carter commonly wakes up that early anyway. To our surprise they didn't' get up until about 7:00! It was crazy fun opening stockings and presents after that. The kids were thrilled with their loot this year, even though we felt like we were cutting back a bit because of our Disney trip.

Before stockings:

Before the unwrapping frenzy:

Carter + loot:

It was the year of Wii games for Carter. He bought several sets of Legos as his souvenir on our trip so we cut back on the Lego sets this year. He also received a giftcard to pick out another set of Legos. His favorite present was probably the entire set of Harry Potter Books he got from my parents!

Makenna + loot:


She loved everything she got. Favorites are her American Girl doll, Hello Kitty Slippers, princess scooter and her Sugar Plum Fairy Nutcracker.

Addie + loot:

She for sure LOVES her new bike a ton. If she is awake she is sitting/playing on it. I also found some bristle blocks (had them myself as a kid) and she has loved those too.

After unwrapping, breakfast and a little bit of playtime we jumped in the car and headed to Show Low for a few days. We literally piled all the boxes and wrapping paper in the middle of the room and left it there. So unlike us and so not fun to come home to. However, it was SO fun to be in SL for a couple of days. Allen's mom, his youngest brother Jake, younger brother Joel plus wife Ami and son Dane and his sister LJ and husband Adam were all there. It was great. We did what we do best at the ranch - eat and hang out! On the 26th we played in the snow and rode the 4 wheelers. The adults went to dinner and out to see Sherlock Holmes (ALL of us loved the movie)that night. Sunday we went to church, had lunch together and then headed back to ABQ. It was a super short visit but very fun! I was able to read Hunger Games and The Help over the weekend and LOVED both books.

Roasting marshmallows in the snow!On the way out of town we stopped to get gas and got this late Christmas "present." Ugh. A lady backed right into us as we were pumping gas. It was no biggie and we already have the claim all worked out and an appt. to get the car fixed next week.

Since we've been home we've been getting things back to normal and played lots with our new toys! We've also been to the rec center to swim, out to lunch, to the Children's museum and still have a couple things to squeeze in before school starts next week.

It was a very merry Christmas here and we hope yours was too!