Happy Holidays!

What a fun week! Christmas Eve was spent at Jay's parent's house. We had an awesome dinner and opened presents. The kids usually go caroling as well, but it was getting late by the time the party was over, so we headed home to start our own family traditions.

First off, we get to open one present. Like usual, it was Christmas jammies, so the kids got changed and then snuggled on the couch with me to read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and the Christmas story out of the Bible. I had to read both this year since Jay was sick and had lost his voice! We then wrote letters to Santa, set out milk and cookies, and headed up to Sierra's room where all the kids were going to sleep together. They actually fell asleep this year!

Morning came and Brooke woke up about 8:45. I went to get her out of the crib, and got myself ready. I woke up Jay and he took a quick shower. Still, the other two weren't awake, so I took Brooke and we went in to wake them up. I yelled that Santa came and it was Christmas, so wake up. They just rolled over and kept their eyes closed. So I said that everything downstairs was mine, and that roused Sierra. We finally got Jax up and they lined up on the stairs to follow Brooke down. They were pretty excited and yelled that they got "Just what I wanted!"

They played with their gifts for a bit, while I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven, then we opened presents from eachother. They got new Webkinz, books, movies, cd's, felt stories, sweaters, and everyone got a Cardinals hat! Jaxson got Loopy Loco and his farm, while Sierra got an Easy Bake Oven and Mermaid bath playset, and Brooke got the Little People Learn About Town. They were completely spoiled and had a blast playing with all their new toys. We usually go to Temple Square on Christmas, but due to the weather, we stayed home, shoveled the driveway twice, and watched our new movies. It was great to spend the day with the family!

We also had a fun New Year's Eve at home. We started out with an appetizer dinner with fresh fruit, chocolate dip, crescent rolls, crackers, cheese, turkey, cordon bleu balls, barbecue lil smokies, and buffalo chicken dip. The kids loved it and ate a ton. Since it was all finger food, we didn't even have to remind Jax to use his fork! After dinner, the kids got in jammies, and set up their blankets and pillows downstairs to watch movies. We had rented Wall-E and Ariel's Beginning. They hung out downstairs all night while I read a book upstairs, and Jay watched TV, and of course, fell asleep. The came up a few times to ask if it was midnight yet, but then went back down. It was quiet and I thought they would have fallen asleep, but they stayed up all the way until midnight. When it got close, I headed downstairs, got out the Sparkling Cider and the firework poppers, and we watched the ball drop. We yelled and shot off our poppers, toasted the new year, and I even got my New Year's kiss. We had fun celebrating, and called my family who were all down in Vegas. They still had to wait an hour! Then it was off to bed. We had fun and the kids just thought it was cool to stay up all night.