Christmas '11

I love Christmas. It is always fabulous, and this year was no exception. Even though Damon had to have the "Santa talk" this year, which made me so sad, it was still magical. (He also had the "sex talk" the same week. More on that later...)

A couple nights before Christmas, we had our annual Journey Dinner. We really need to think of a new name for it, because we don't "journey" anywhere. We just sit at the table, lit by candles, and eat the kinds of foods Mary and Joseph would have eaten (homemade tortillas to represent unleavened bread, cheese, smoked meats, olives, nuts, dried fruits and sparkling grape juice for the wine). It really is a lot of fun and there's something special about eating with all the lights out. The kids really look forward to it, too, and make sure that we do it.

Christmas Eve we spent with the Trapnell family. We all dressed up in red and green for the occasion and I got the four oldest to pose by their new nativity. I finally bought one (I have been wanting one for years) and gave them one piece every day until they had them all. Of course we saved Baby Jesus for last, and talked about how it's not Christmas without Jesus. 

After a ton of fun at grandma's house (I have pictures on Jeff's camera--I'll have to get those off), we came home just in time for the pajama elf to visit with new pjs for everyone. Which, of course, set everyone's excitement level skyrocketing, because it meant that Santa was on his way (we tracked him on an app on my phone that told us EXACTLY where he was. A favorite activity for sure). 

In the morning, the kids were happy to find that Santa had come. Here's the proof.

They patiently waited until 7:00 and then came in to get us. Jeff and I felt like we had been asleep for 1-2 hours at that point (it had probably been more like 6-7), but we managed to wipe the sleepiness from our eyes and get ready for the excitement. 

After the presents were opened, and we went to church, we got ready to head to St. George. I have more pictures from the other camera, too, but here are a couple. 

Kimmy got a lot of Carter's love

And McKay got a nasty rash all over his face.

 Not to mention the strep that was being passed around the house (my two cousins, Kyla and my mom got that one). There were germs everywhere! But that couldn't stop us! We stayed up WAAAAAY too late and played more than a few games of Rummikub and Settlers. We also had a birthday party for my grandparents, who are now 80, which was a lot of fun. More on that later, too. Now we have to get ready for another year. Hopefully the best one yet.