The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our precious boys. The older they get, the more exciting it is.  We started off our celebrations the way we always do, with breakfast at my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve morning, where we enjoyed a huge, delicious meal.  Since my dad's family is so large, we now only buy gifts for the kids (as in my grandmother's great grandchildren, since all of my cousins are now adults and half of us have kids of our own).  Collier still isn't too interested in sitting still long enough to actually open the presents but he loves playing with the end result! Noah loved that he got several new books so he got anyone he could to read to him, and of course when your family is as big as mine is, there's always someone willing to do so, so he was a happy boy!  Following the whirlwind of present opening, we nibbled on a yummy lunch made up of all of our favorite snack foods... dips, mini sandwiches, etc.

 

 

 

 

While the boys napped at home, I kept myself busy in the kitchen and made 2 dishes: broccoli cheese cornbread and corn dip for our next meal, Christmas Eve dinner at Jamie's parent's house. We had so much fun letting all 4 kids run around playing and the excitement level was kicked up a notch since they knew that Santa was just hours away from paying them each a visit!  Nana and Poppa spoiled the boys once again with tons of fun new toys and clothes!  We had a BLAST (no sarcasm at all) trying to get a picture of all 4 kids sitting together, but as you can imagine with a 5 year old, two 3 year olds and a 2 year old, it didn't really happen.  I guess it's a good thing that we had professional pictures taken of all 4 kids as our Christmas gift for my mother-in-law and the grandmothers!

 



 

 

Later that evening, we headed home and got our boys dressed in their Christmas pj's and snuggled in the bed so that Santa could pay them a visit!  They were so worn out that I think they were asleep by the time their heads hit the pillow.

 

 

 

 









Christmas morning came and Jamie and I woke up so we could put together a breakfast casserole and eagerly await the boys waking up... however, they BOTH slept in!  My parents, Lindsay, Derrick and Harper all made it to our house, same as they've done the past few years so they can see the boys when they first wake up.  Once they all arrived, Collier finally woke up and came bouncing into the room.  He still doesn't quite understand the whole 'Santa is coming down the chimney and bringing you lots of gifts' concept.  But he was excited to see all that was set up in our den. And in true Collier fashion, he grabbed Noah's gifts too.  Uh oh... eventually I will LEARN to just buy them both one of each toy.  Finally Noah woke up and was as excited about his gifts as he was seeing his Mimi, Papa, 'Deck', Lindsay and Harper. He wasn't sure whether to play with his toys or all of his family sitting on the couch.

 

 

After we stuffed our bellies full of breakfast casserole and cinnamon muffins, we dove into all the presents that were wrapped under the tree.  Once again, the boys were given plenty of toys and clothes from their Mimi, Papa, Lindsay and Derrick.  Everyone went home and the boys were excited to be able to play with their new toys.  Since we had decided to have a late, casual lunch, we were able to relax and enjoy the morning with one another.  Later on that afternoon, we reconvened at my parents. Of course, as soon as Collier walked in the door to Mimi and Papa's house, he went straight for the kitchen to pull out his favorite toys, my mom's kitchen gadgets, despite having plenty of new things to play with! Later on, we ate lunch and relaxed with my family for the rest of the day. Once again, we had a very blessed, joyful Christmas. Even though the 2 days of Christmas are jam-packed with family get-togethers and meal after meal, I'm so grateful to have such this family to celebrate our Savior's birth with!