CHRISTMAS!!!

 

Surprisingly the kiddos slept in a little on Christmas morning but once they were up, they were up!  They were so excited to see what Santa had brought them.

Santa had brought all the toys to the basement tree (smart man) so here they are anixously waiting to go downstairs.

After the intial excitement of seeing their big unwrapped gift, one of the first things they noticed was Paisley's stocking had been filled and they were so delighted to show her the bones and treats inside.

Stocking time.

What a glorious fill!!!

Jaxson's big unwrapped gift this year was a marble tower building set.

Kennadie got a kitchen and started jumping and screaming when she saw it.  She went right to work cooking up a storm and makes us something everyday.

I think the gift Jax was most excited about was his pirate ship.  He's really into pirates right now.

Kenna also loved her shopping cart.

Keith was thrilled with his Avengers movie.

Our sister in law, Bekah, made the kids both chef hats and aprons which is great because they both love to help out in the kitchen.  She did a great job, they're so cute!

 

Jaxson's has bugs on it which is perfect for this bug loving boy!

Kenna got a cradle from Grandma and Grandpa Shinney so she now has a place to put her babies to bed.  Before she would dump things out of totes and boxes to make beds for her babies.

We got some fun games from Grandma and Grandpa Nebeker

Then kids both picked out a little present to give to Paisley and they couldn't wait to give them to her.

Later Jaxson and Daddy made an airplane out of the puzzle blocks Jaxson got from G-ma and G-pa Shinney.

We spent the rest of the day eating a yummy breakfast with the missionaries, playing with our new toys, eating more good food, talking to our families and relaxing.  It was our very first Christmas without any family, which was a little sad at times but we loved being just our family as well.  We're so thankful to everyone who sent gifts, called and helped make this time of year special.  Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorites! This year for Christmas Eve we had some of our really good friends, the Waters, over for a big tasty dinner.  I'm so mad I didn't get any pictures of them here.  After they left we found a surprise gift left for us outside.

 Inside we found some new Christmas jammies!

 They we so excited!

 Jaxson's pjs had Christmas monsters on them so of course we had to take a few pics acting like monsters, we sure have some scary monsters.

 This one just cracks me up.

 

 One of our traditions is to exchange sibling gifts on Christmas eve.

 

Kenna gave Jax a Captain America action figure. 

 And even though Jax spilled the beans on what he gave Kenna long before the big day she was still thrilled to finally have her own "Little Fella" puppy dog.  Jaxson has a puppy just like it but blue that is his favorite stuffed animal and has caused many of fights in our house.

 They both slept with their new toys that night.

 

 Then we put out some magical reindeer food and carrots for the Santa's reindeer.

 

 And of course, we had to leave some cookies and milk for Santa.

 

 Last but not least we read the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures.

 

And once those cuties were all snug in their beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, Santa did find our house.  We must have been good this year!

I love the magic of Christmas!

 

Santa at the Henry Ford Museum

A few days before Christmas I took the kids to the Henry Ford Museum for the day.  Our main goal was to get some cute pictures with Santa.  We had met Santa a couple times already this season at different parties and activities, but Jaxson can already tell if they have a fake beard, so we decided to give this one a try.

 

My little models are always up for posing for the camera if I tell them they can make a funny face.

 But when I want a real smile from them, this is usually what I get.  Kenna is always looking somewhere else and Jaxson has not learned how to give a real looking smile on cue.

 

 This one was little better.  He was the best Santa I've ever seen.  He really talked to the kids, making them feel special, and seemed to know exactly what they needed to improve on.  I left believing in Santa again! 

 

 While we were there we checked out the fun Lego exhibit that is at the museum right now.  That building behind them was all built out of the tiny legos.  Craziness!

 Then we got to play with some legos as well, which was a hit.  Jaxson has just recently discovered how fun legos are and I can't believe how long they can hold his attention. 

 We stopped at the big Christmas tree on display, which was gorgeous, and the kiddos had a little dance party.

 They've got some serious moves.

It was a fun day with my little buddies.  I love these two so much and I'm glad that, for the most part, they love each other too!

Preschool Christmas Program

Jaxson has really been enjoying preschool this year.  He was quite excited for his Christmas program.  This kid is always ready to preform.

 

Nope, no nerves or stage fright here.  After his Primary Program performance at church we talked alot of the importance of being good when he was up there.

 And for once he listened.  He did a great job singing the songs and doing his part.

 It was short and sweet.  It was also fun sitting with Kenna in the audience because she knew all the songs as well and sat with us singing right along.

Afterwards they got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.  It was a fun night.

Christmas Traditions



We started a few new Christmas traditions at our house this year.  I figured this would be a good time since we weren't going to be doing any traveling and the kids are at such fun ages.

First, we were sent one of Santa's special helpers to stay at our house during the season to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas.  His name was Elmer and the kids loved looking for him each morning.  Santa sent them a letter explaining how important Jesus is and that Elmer would be watching to see if they were trying to be like Jesus everyday.

 

Elmer quickly caught on that Jaxson loves jokes and so each day he brought him a new holiday joke.  Jaxson thought this was pretty cool.

 

Another fun tradition we started was each night we would unwrap a Christmas book.  I found a few at second hand stores but most of them I borrowed from the library. 

The kids looked forward to it every night.

 Of course, we did some normal Christmas preparations like some crafts.

 And lots of baking.

 We ended up sending over 9 dozen cookies to the hospital and made more for friends and neighbors, and different parties.  I was a little baked out by the end of the season but so thankful (at times) for my little helpers.

It seems like each year my kids have a different way of rearranging the nativity sets we have on display.  One year they were always knocked over like bowling pins from Jaxson.  This year Kennadie always had to rearrange all the people to circle the baby Jesus.

 It didn't matter how many times we put them in the traditional set up she changed it back to this.

 

 A few pictures of them in the Christmas Sunday best.

 

 Another fun holiday event this year was our first Ugly Sweater Party with friends.  Our family actually won a prize for our amazingly ugly sweaters and Jaxson told everyone about it.  Good times!