Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas! It all began with Christmas Eve. We had the Alders over for dinner and a Christmas Eve Sing-A-Long. Dinner was delicious (Cafe Rio Pork salads), and afterward we read the account of the Savior's birth and sang a song for every verse. The boys love spending time with their older cousins, so it was a ton of fun.

Merry Christmas Eve

The boys opened pajamas from Aunt Laurie, and so they changed into them quickly, so they could get ready for Santa to arrive. They were most excited that it had begun to snow. There hadn't been any snow yet, and we were so glad that we would have a little bit for Christmas.

Ready for Christmas!

Yay for snow!

The next morning the boys came in right at 6:30 am. We told them no earlier, but they also were not one second late. We headed downstairs to open stockings and see what Santa brought before breakfast. There was a big set of magnet tiles for everyone to share, and everyone had a new puzzle next to their stockings and a bag of their favorite chips. Soon we headed up for breakfast. Seth found a note under his plate mentioning a new bike from Santa. So the boys hurried out to the shed and found new bikes for everyone, even Mom! They were so happy!

We really enjoyed building together.  

Christmas morning breakfast was delicious. 

Mark tried a piece of bacon, and ate the whole thing. It was a Christmas miracle!

Mark got a new red bike! 

Dax got a new black Mongoose that Dad envies. 

Seth graduated to Dax's bike. But Santa added a new bike horn and a kick stand to make it even better for Seth.

The greatest present was the snow!

After seeing the new bikes, we headed back inside to open the rest of the presents. There were a lot of great ones like a remote-controlled car for Seth that he really wanted, and new piano books for the boys. There were also lots of homemade gifts from Dax and Seth. Seth joined in on the making gifts idea, so it was double the fun. Mark earned some money refereeing soccer games, so he bought everyone some gifts, too. It was great to see how happy everyone was to give their gifts more than receive. If only that attitude happened a little more often around here.

Seth was so excited to share the gifts that he made this year.

Dax is a great giver, but also a great receiver. He is happy about the smallest gift. 

Mark is growing up and is so hard to buy for, but he has such a great attitude about anything he receives. 

Dax wrote everyone a book where you guess who it is about. They were darling.

Dax made a Lego set for Seth. It had directions that he wrote himself with all the pieces.
We were very impressed. 

Seth made this baseball monopoly for Mark. It was a huge hit and the boys play it all the time. 

We love Seth's fancy writing that he uses.

Mark bought Mom a shower cap, and Dad bought her a new peacoat. She loves both gifts.

Seth REALLY wanted this basketball, so Mark spent his soccer money to buy it for him. Seth loves it!

Dax made coupons for everyone. 

Seth built this all on his own for Mom. 

Later in the afternoon, the sun came out so we took the bikes out for a ride. Mom was so excited for her new bike because the seat is big and wide so it doesn't hurt her to sit on it. We had a great little ride around the neighborhood.

We love our new bikes. 

Finally, we had a wonderful Christmas turkey dinner. We cooked up the dinner that Dax won at the Turkey Trot. We had mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, rolls, beans, and sparking cider. Dad set the table so nicely, and he even folded a fancy Christmas tree napkin. We love eating dinner together, but it's especially fun on the holidays. We had a very Merry Christmas!

The table setting was beautiful. The napkins were amazing!

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner.