Christmas Morning 2011

There's nothing quite as magical as Christmas morning. No matter who you are or where you are, Christmas is exciting. I love the anticipation in the kids' eyes as they wonder what Santa Claus has left them under the Christmas tree. This year was no different. They couldn't wait to see what Santa brought.

Santa brought Cadence a telescope with an astronomy book. Cadence is so much like me it's scary. I remember getting a telescope from Santa when I was about her age. I couldn't wait to teach her all about the stars & constellations as soon as we got home. I think she now thinks I'm the smartest person in the world because I can name most of the stars in the sky, (even though I'm not. . .) I'll take any adoration my daughter will give me before she realizes she knows everything & I know nothing! ha ha ha. She LOVED it! She is like a sponge & absorbs information like crazy. She has learned SO MUCH even over just a few weeks.

Lorien is a crack up. When we went downstairs to see what Santa brought she walked straight to her area & found a hat near her stocking. She put it on proudly & beamed at her Santa gift. There were a pair of NICE HEELY'S right next to the hat, but she didn't see them. (She's been wanting Heely's for some time now, but they're just so stinkin expensive.) She turned around & noticed Cadence's telescope & I thought for sure she was going to get upset. Nope. . . "Cool! Cadence got a telescope. Cadence look at my pretty hat." At that point Trek & I had to point to the REAL Santa gift. She was giddy with joy of course, but I couldn't help but marvel at the gratefulness she has. Any NORMAL kid would have seen the telescope as opposed to a silly little hat & complained & maybe even cried. She was SO HAPPY. (Watch the video. . . it really is amazing.) She loves her Heely's. She's fallen a few times, but she's always good to get right back up & try again. She's a real trooper.

Taya has been asking. . . more like BEGGING for a baby doll for months now. Santa managed to make her the most beautiful Cabbage Patch Doll EVER. It looks EXACTLY like TAYA. She was thrilled with her gift. She loves that doll more than any toy she has ever gotten. I love that it looks just like her. It's like her mini-me.

I love that we've got boys now. Sometimes you just want to play with something BOYISH. No barbies, no ponies. . . just guns or trucks or BAT CAVES. How fun is this? Santa Claus brought Bladen a 4 story batcave with a Batman & Robin action figure. This thing is awesome. You can play from the front of the toy or from the back (which has 4 stories of exciting hands on action). He loves it. I love sitting with him & capturing the bad guys in the prison. Who knew boys could be so much fun?

Craiger is still a little guy so Santa brought him a little alligator that sings when you push him around. He has six little blocks that Craiger LOVES to suck on. It was the perfect gift for such a cute little guy.

This year was the first time we had a Potter cousin to share in the Christmas morning fun. Emery, who just turned 1, had a fun gift from Santa as well. She got a Princess ball pit to play in. It was ADORABLE. The entire morning, Emery & Craiger were playing together with all their new toys. It was SO CUTE.

Everything was a hit. Christmas morning was as fun & as magical as we all remembered it being.

All the adults just sat around & watched the kids play with their goodies. I think we were having just as much fun watching the kids as they were playing with their new toys.

For stockings this year, everybody bought a little something for everyone's stocking (instead of buying gifts for everyone). I bought all the adult boys a nerf gun & we had an AWESOME battle on Christmas morning. They loved acting like a bunch of kids.

We all loved seeing what was in our stockings. It was extra special because everybody put stuff in the stockings this year.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year so we went to church before opening presents. I know, crazy huh? But the kids were SO happy when 2:00 rolled around so we could start opening gifts. Lorien was SUPER excited about the nerf gun Daddy got her. She's such a tomboy!

Cadence got lots of girly things this year like earrings. She loved it.

Bladen got all the typical boy things. . . cars, trucks, & guns. He was HAPPY AS CAN BE.

It was a great day. We opened presents & stockings. . . got family pictures taken, had a fabulous Christmas dinner with deep fried turkey (thank you Phil for frying it for us all), & were together as family.

Merry Christmas from the Potters!