CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!

We had such a fun Christmas!!! So fun that it has taken me over 2 WEEKS to get it posted! It was our very first time doing Christmas with just our little family (we usually stay at my mom and dad's with all my siblings) but we LOVED it! It was so nice to go at our own pace and let the kids take breaks to play with their new toys. It took ALL MORNING to get everything open, but I loved it that way. I did miss seeing what my brothers got and having everyone else see the kids, but it was fun to start our own traditions. I took over 200 pictures on Christmas morning, so Sorry - this post is a little long.... If you just want to see our pictures, instead of reading my detailed account of Christmas morning, you can skip to the slide show at the end! The kids actually slept until about 7:30 and then didn't really seem to remember it was Christmas. Logan came into our room the same as usual and was just hanging out in our bed with us. It was a BLIZZARD outside, so he was looking at the snow out the window and thought it was SO great! Then I asked him if we should check if Santa came and he said "No, mom. Santa is coming tonight." I guess he was a little confused. Then I told him that I had checked and there were LOTS of presents downstairs and he got VERY excited, so we headed down... Here is Logan emptying out his stocking. I think he would have been content with just that - He loved every little thing and was SO excited every time he found something else inside. Logan was really happy that this Mater and the Ghost Light book was in his stocking. He had wanted it at the store, but I had said no, and since he was so good about it, Santa came through for him!!!Here is my cute Rylee opening her stocking. (I never got hers made this year...I am such a slacker!!!...so she had to use her 1st Christmas one, poor girl!) She took a little longer to come around after waking up, but once she found candy, she was awake and ready to go! In this picture, she is saying "CHOCOLATE!" and shortly after that "Open it!" And now she is eating her chocolate, which made her much happier!!! While the kids were checking out their stockings, I threw breakfast in the oven so it would be ready. My mom always made a yummy breakfast casserole and sticky buns, so I continued the tradition. (It is a great recipe if anyone is interested!) I made them the night before so it only took a second to throw them in. Then we got on to the presents....In my family growing up, we always took turns opening presents. I love this tradition, so we did it that way. It is great because then you get to see what everyone gets when they open it and it stretches out all the fun! (Santa takes too long buying and wrapping presents for it to be over in 10 minutes!!!) Here is Logan opening his 1st gift - It was 2 cars he has been wanting (Boost and Snotrod from the Cars movie). He was SO excited, but then he said "Where is DJ?" (the other car that goes with them). He kept hoping to find DJ in one of his presents, but Santa didn't bring him. He got over it pretty quick though. He took his cars everywhere with him that morning!One of Logan's excited faces!Here is Rylee opening one of her first presents while eating the banana from her stocking. The girl loves to eat and presents weren't enough to stop her! She did a great job with opening presents. I don't remember Logan being so into it at that age, but she ripped right into everything and didn't need (or want) any help! She was so funny - We loved watching her!
Here is Rylee holding up her Christmas sweater. Unlike Logan, she got really excited for new clothes and would hold them up for us to see and say "Cute!" Logan hated opening clothes and would hurry and throw the clothes out of the box and then start looking for his next present. Just another difference between girls and boys, I guess...Logan was SO excited about his EVA! It was something he really wanted. We told him that he could only ask for 3 things, and this was always the top of his list. He was SO funny when he was opening presents. He kept saying "I really like this, but what about my Eva, my racetrack and my Mater." I think he thought if he was getting other things, he wouldn't get what her asked for. It was so cute! He was so happy when one of the items from his list was there!After Logan opened Eva, he HAD to open it and play with it right away. So we took a little break and let the kids play with their toys. Logan played with Eva and Rylee and Dad tried out her cool new Mr Potato Head toy!Logan and his Eva! He loved playing with her! I love how excited he looks!
Rylee showing off her potato head creation - She LOVED that toy! I think it is because of all the accessories - Her favorite is that it has a purse! Logan and Rylee opening - Since it was taking awhile, we started having them open clothes together. (Logan didn't care about his clothes anyway...) They looked so cute tearing into them together!One of Rylee's favorite presents was her new Fancy Nancy book! Mom and Dad liked this present, too because Fancy Nancy is the ONLY book she usually wants to read at bedtime, so now we have another one to choose from. It is "Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy" and is Ry's NEW favorite! Now she only wants this book at night! She says "posh puppy" so cute - I LOVE it!
Logan was REALLY happy about his Wall-E movie! He wanted to stop and watch it right then but we convinced him to wait a little while.Logan opening his new Handy Manny toolbox! He LOVES it! He likes to put on the tool belt and pretend he is Handy Manny and say "Hola!" Ry really liked this toolbox, too since it plays music and the tools dance.Another shot of Logan admiring his toolboxRy opening her play food set. Most of her presents were kitchen related. I wonder what else she might be getting? She loved her play food - especially the little hot dogs and bananasLogan and his MATER!!! This was another really exciting present for him! He is pulling a silly face in the picture, but he was REALLY excited about this one and had to have him open immediately!Logan jumping up and down over this new bowling set! He was SO happy about this and we spent a good part of the morning (and now everyday!) bowling! (Santa did a little online shopping and didn't realize just how BIG this bowling set was!) I have NO idea where we are going to store this, but Logan loves it!Rylee and her 1st Cabbage Patch baby! Most little kids are pretty easy to coach on what they want for Christmas. We had Rylee saying that she wanted a "pink kitchen" for quite awhile whenever anyone asked her what she wanted Santa to bring. (At first, she said "kisses" which was so cute! but then she started saying kitchen) About a week before Christmas, whenever someone would ask her what she wanted she would say "Pink Kitchen" just like we practiced and then say "No....Baby!" I guess she changed her mind on us! Luckily, Santa pulled through and she LOVES her new baby doll, even though she really doesn't need another one around here.Rylee finally got to tear into her BIG present and she was SO excited about her new....PINK KITCHEN!!! Isn't it cute? (I don't know why the orange under her chin...) I think I might have been just as excited as she was! She loved it and played with it all morning! The first thing she tried to do was fill up her sippy cup with the water dispenser in the door of the fridge and then at the sink. So funny!Logan with his new Cars Race Track!!! He was so excited! He said it is just like the Piston Cup! He and Dad had a great time with it Christmas morning and it is still set up in our dining room because he loves it so much.Darren and his new grill! He was actually really surprised, which is rare. He always seems to figure out what he is getting. I wasn't sure how I was going to get this to our house, since it is really big. My dad picked it up for me and I have been storing it at my parent's house. There was a lot of snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and since we were doing a lot of driving, my parents offered to let us use their Suburban since it has 4-wheel drive. It was perfect because then I got his present to our house for Christmas morning! I can't wait for him to try out the grill - He is a great cook!Rylee taking her baby doll for a shoulder ride, or "tight" as she calls it!

Once we were all done with our stacks of presents, we took a breakfast break. We also let the kids try out some of their stuff. They REALLY love bowling!!! It is a little crazy - It is pretty big and noisy, but they have so much fun.Logan and his LOOT! He was totally spoiled!!! He was so sweet about it though - He said "Mom, you said I could only ask for 3 things, but I got EVERYTHING!" He also kept saying all day "I had the best Christmas!" I love this sweet boy! For my own journaling purposes, I am going to write a list of what he got (most of you probably don't care, so you can skip it...): Some clothes, Incredibles PJs (he loves them and says they make him look just like Dash), a couple books (Pinocchio and a Backyardigans and Diego one), movies (Tarzan and Wall-E), some new cars (the Pace Car, Luigi, SnotRod and Boost), Snow boots, Lincoln Logs, Eva, Bowling Set, Mater, Handy Manny Tool Box and a Cars Racetrack.Isn't he cute?
Here is Rylee and her loot! (This is the FIRST picture I took on my new camera!!!) Ry was pretty funny about Christmas and more into it than I expected. She LOVED opening presents and was pretty excited about everything she got. Ry's list: Clothes, PJs, Books (Dora and a Blue's Clues), a couple movies (Kung Fu Panda and The Aristocats), an apron and hotpads, a cookie sheet, jar of pickles and rolling pin (for her kitchen), a set of playfood, a set of pots and pans, Fancy Nancy book, a big Mr Potato Head set with lots of parts, Cabbage Patch doll and a PINK play kitchen!
A couple more of Rylee being silly!Logan testing out his new race track. It is pretty awesome! He LOVES it, but I think Darren might like it even more!Cute kids in front of the tree. After we finished breakfast and tried out some of their new toys, we opened what was left from Santa and under the tree. Santa brought a few things for both Logan and Rylee to share. He brought a HUGE Playdoh set and this fun Dr Seuss game. The kids really like both and we have played both of them lots already. Santa also brought them both a big sled! We had yet to try it out in the snow but the kids love to pretend its their boat!Gotta love Rylee and all her silly faces! She opened this set of stuff for her baby from Dad and a mixer for her kitchen from Logan. I also made a photobook of one of our Disney trips for both the kids to share. I thought I put Logan's picture on here with his mitt, but I guess I didn't - Darren got him a REAL baseball mit with a ball and a sweatband!!!! He LOVED that! Rylee got him a Lightning McQueen basketball jersey that he really liked, too. Dad and the kids with his new beanie from Logan - I took Logan to pick this beanie out a few weeks before Christmas and as soon as Darren came home that day, he told him that he was giving him a beanie for Christmas! I told him that it was supposed to be a secret, so then he went and whispered in Darren's ear, "I got you a beanie for Christmas!" I guess he figured if he whispered it, it was still a secret! Rylee gave Dad a movie (Pirates 3) and it came with some video game. I gave him a photobook of our trip to San Antonio. He was surprised by that, too! (Two in one year - YES!) I went a little overboard on the photobooks this year, but I think they are the best gift, and I made 4 free ones with the offer from Oprah!
Me and D - I was so busy taking pics of the kiddies, that there weren't too many of us! This is proof that we were there, too!Here is Darren with his loot - I think he was actually pretty surprised with most of his gifts this year, so Santa must have done a pretty good job! Darren's list: Snacks for his office, new garments, "We Are Marshall" movie, a tie rack for his closet, some new shirts and jeans, some gloves, a charging valet for his dresser (he likes to be organized!!!) and a grill.
Santa spoiled me, too!!! He got me some new makeup, a couple of shirts, a gift card to Victoria Secret, a cute new hat, a new flat iron and a CAMERA!!! I was SO excited about the new camera! My old one is about 5 years old and getting really slow! My new one has lots of new features that I am still trying to figure out. My favorite is the smile recognition feature - If you focus on a person's face, it will take the picture when they smile without you even having to push a button! It also has onscreen editing and a red eye feature. I am having LOTS of fun with it, so there will be lots of pictures to post!

Here is Rylee in her cute apron cooking! She made us all 'Roni Cheese (Macaroni Cheese) all morning long! (That must be the only thing I ever make because that is all she ever made for us - that and cake!) She LOVED her kitchen and played in it so cute! She had to use the hot pads to take things in and out of the oven and her and Logan even attempted dumping water down her sink (it is a wooden kitchen, so that is not a good idea!)

Rylee in her kitchen...again! She spent all morning in there and LOVED playing with it. When we finally moved it up to her room a few days later, she was SO sad and kept saying "No...kitchen downstairs!" I think she liked to have it where we all hang out. Now whenever anyone comes to visit, she HAS to show them her kitchen in her room. She says, "C'mon! Kitchen. My room!"

Dad and Logan really loved playing with the racetrack!

Me and the kids! What a fun Christmas!

I thought this was so cute of Logan and his Mater! After we were finally done opening and cleaning up a little, we decided to make our treats to take down to my family's and I let Logan watch Wall-E. He sat on the couch and had his Mater right next to him and his SnotRod and Boost right there, too. I guess they were all watching the movie together. He even had his arm around his Mater for part of the movie - Too cute!

Before we got showered and dressed, I made us take one family PJ pic! This is at about 2 in the afternoon! We loved taking all day to enjoy our Christmas and each other! It was so fun! We are so grateful for all we have been blessed with - especially each other and for the gospel and our Savior! Santa went a little overboard, but I guess that is what happens when dental school is FINALLY over and your kids are SO good! After Christmas, Logan kept saying "Thanks for the best Christmas!" and even said thanks for Christmas in his prayers. Just the other day, he was looking at some of our pictures and he gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for my best Christmas ever!" It makes it all worth it (and probably scored him some more presents for next year!!

Darren's parents had planned to come and see us, but with all the crazy snow, they were not able to make it up as planned, so we finally headed down to see my family a little after four. It was a few hours after we planned to leave, but it was nice to not be in such a hurry and enjoy our day! Here is a slide show with some more pictures (yes...I took more than I posted!)