I Think They Like It

The kids LOVED their toys from Santa!

Poor Canyon was SO sick.  We ended up taking him to the ER
& he had RSV.  Poor kiddo had a miserable week.  But
now that it's a week later, he's finally getting back to his
old self again & NOW he's LOVING his new toys.

Santa Came!

The girls wrote Santa some beautiful letters & put them next to a plate FULL of Christmas goodies & hot chocolate on Christmas Eve.  They gave me permission to take a picture of their letters because I thought they were SO cute.

We woke up bright & early on Christmas morning & Trek & I sneaked downstairs to see what Santa brought.  I HAD to snap a few pictures before the kids came down & starting playing with it all.

Craiger got a really cute train set that he can set up & work
all by himself.

Bladen got the Hot Wheels Triple Loop Track.

Lorien FINALLY got the Friends Lego House she's been
wanting ALL YEAR LONG.

Cadence was surprised with 2 sets of Minecraft
Legos (which she didn't even know existed) & a
plush Creeper from Minecraft.

Taya wanted an Elsa Barbie from "Frozen" & not
only did she get her barbie, but she got a little
castle house to go with it too.

And Canyon got a little light up ride on train toy.

The living room was pretty full with all the wonderful gifts the kids received.  Thank you Santa for the wonderful gifts.  We hope you enjoyed your goodies & the reindeer food for your helpers.

Surprise Pajamas

So on Christmas Eve night, we were just getting ready to sit down to watch a movie before we went to bed when my phone went missing.  I ALWAYS have my phone with me & we couldn't figure out where it had gone.  Each of us looked throughout the house trying to find it & Lorien finally found it on my bed along with 8 wrapped gifts with our names on them.  Santa had arrived a little early to get us ready for bed.  The kids were SO excited that he was so secretive.

What was inside these magical packages?  Christmas Jammies of course.

Poor Canyon was extremely sick so he didn't
want to participate in ANYTHING.  But he
got some Jake & the Neverland Pirates pi's.

Craiger was excited to get Ninja Turtles.

Bladen loved his Angry Birds Star Wars Jammies.

Taya got cute monkeys.

Lorien is our zebra print lover so these were perfect.

And Cadence looked cute in her pink leopard print.

Santa knows mommy always wears some form
of Mickey or Minnie Jammies.

And Daddy got Batman this year.

Thank you Santa for our new jammies.  We love them all.

Gingerbread Houses

Christmas Eve just wouldn't be Christmas Eve without some Gingerbread Houses right?  Daddy got to come home from work at about 2:00 so as soon as he walked through the door we began our houses.

We had graham crackers, blue frosting, & TONS of yummy candy.  Most of the candy never made it to the houses because it magically made it's way into our bellies.  That's how it usually goes though right?  We had so much fun.

Lorien's House

Craiger's House
Yup, this pretty much sums up Craiger in a picture.

Hmmmm. . . I wonder whose house this is?

Bladen's House with extra Licorice.

And Cadence's Winter Castle.

Such a Good Sister

Cadence is such a good big sister to her siblings.  She's such a big help at the grocery store.

A Very Nancy Christmas

Every year we are showered with gifts from my dear friend, Nancy.  Nancy is the woman I met on an airplane on my way home from interning with Disney the summer I was 17 years old.  She sat by me on the airplane & we chatted, exchanged email addresses, & became fast friends.  Over the years, Nancy has adopted our family as her own since she's never been married herself & has no children of her own.  She calls us her "kids" & we just love her to death.

Every Christmas she sends us TONS of presents.  The kids always know exactly what the gifts are, but they still love them.  Every year the kids get boots, shoes, one or two outfits, & a coat.  Trek usually gets a nutcracker, food of some sort, one or two shirts, & a church shirt with matching tie.  For me, it's always a ton of random things. . . sometimes clothes, sometimes kitchen things, sometimes beauty items.  It's always a surprise with me.  My "open me last" gift is always some sort of jewelry.  Nancy is a gemologist & she LOVES sending me gemstones for my birthday & Christmas each year.  We always look forward to our Nancy Christmas (which takes place the Sunday before Christmas to make room under the tree for our normal presents.)

This year my "open me last" gift was a pendant with matching earrings.  The setting is done in rose gold (my favorite right now) & has both pink toned Rhodolite (aka pink Emeralds) & Ethiopian Opals.  I've learned a LOT about gemstones from the things Nancy has sent me.  It's fun learning geology & I love learning about the new stones I get each year.  Here's the specs on these guys:

Pendant: 2.13 carat weight Ethiopian Opal & Rhodolite

Earrings: 3.08 carat weight Ethiopian Opal & Rhodolite 

They are beautiful.  They will look great with warm colored clothes like browns, yellows, oranges.  I can't wait to wear them.

Thank you Nancy for once again making our Christmas MAGICAL.