Christmas Catch Up

Christmas came and went as it does each year.  We had a fabulous time with our little family.  A couple of nights before Christmas I did an activity that I had read about on Pinterest.  I printed off tickets to the "Christmas Express" and put them on all of the kid's beds.  They all got in their pajamas and as we sent them all up to bed we heard their expressions of surprise.  Sadie came running out of her room screaming, "Mom!  There's a ticket on my bed, what is it for!"  Jared and I told her to hurry and get her slippers and robe on and meet us at the car.  All of the kids heard this and followed suit.  As they got in the car we gave them each some hot cocoa and popcorn.  Then we drove out to The Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork.  You stay in the car and drive through this huge park that is all done up with lights for Christmas.  My kids love, love, loved it.  I'm not afraid to say that even Jenna, who sometimes feels a little too old for some of this stuff, loved it.  I enjoyed the fun night out with my family.  I also was reminded of how little it takes to please our littles.  Most of the time, they just want to spend time together.  I love that!  Here they all are in the car, not the best picture, but a great reminder of a fun night.

 
We finished our Christ centered Christmas with lessons on Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  We talked about the great example of service Joseph was to Mary and also Jesus.  We discussed activities we had done as a family to offer service.  We also learned about Mary, the mother of our Savior.  What an amazing and faithful woman she was.  We discussed what it means to ponder and we all shared ideas of what we think Mary might have pondered about on that glorious night.  After that, I asked everyone if they could be anyone in the nativity who they would be and why.  I loved all of their answers as I felt like their thoughts gave such insight into who they all are right now.  Jenna wanted to be one of the angels.  She expressed how amazing she thought it would have been to tell the world about the birth of Jesus Christ.  Abby wanted to be Mary, she thought it would be incredible to be the mother of the son of God and hold that precious little baby.  Ethan wanted to be a wiseman.  He loved how when it came time for the wisemen to return to King Herrod, they chose to travel home a different way, avoiding King Herrod altogether, in order to protect the baby.  Sadie also wanted to be Mary, she said she wanted to rock the new baby.  On Christmas Eve we learned all about Jesus Christ and the miracle of His birth.  What a blessing this sweet baby was for all the world.  He lived a perfect life and showed us the perfect example to follow.  He served, loved and ultimately gave His life for all of us so that we may live again.  I am so grateful for this knowledge that I have been blessed with.

As per our Walker family tradition the kids opened their Christmas Eve pajamas and then posed for our traditional picture by the tree.

Christmas Eve night we had to say good by to Jingles and all of his antics.  

We told Sadie that she could hold Jingles and kiss him goodbye since he would be returning to the North Pole and wouldn't be back until next Christmas.  She burst into tears.  Jared and I were shocked!  Okay, truthfully, we weren't shocked.  This child is a drama queen through and through, we were pretty sure there would be a few tears involved.  We just didn't know it would go on and on.  "Don't forget me Jingles.  I love you Jingles.  Remember to come back next year Jingles."  And on and on it went.  

Somehow, purely by luck I assure you, we held our laughter in when she exclaimed, "He's my favorite elf I ever had!"  Of course he's her favorite, she's never had another one in her life!!!  I'm still patting myself on the back for putting on a sympathetic face and holding it together until she went to bed.  I promise that Jared and I had a great laugh fest once she was settled for the night.

I'm not sure when it started, but somewhere along the way we started reading The Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve right before we nestle these littles in their beds for the night.  I didn't realize Jared was taking  pictures, but I'm sure glad he did. 

 
I'm going to take a minute and brag about how awesome my Christmas tree looks in this picture.  Jared has serious Christmas tree light issues, they have to be perfect and there has to be a lot of them.  I believe there are 4500 lights on this 9 foot tree.  It came pre-lit with 1200, but that just wasn't enough for him.  I thought he was crazy when he first did this, however, I must admit that it looks incredible.

Our kids have always been pretty funny about Christmas morning.  On Christmas Eve as we're tucking them into bed, they always choose a time that they think is acceptable and ask if they can wake us up then.  This year they asked if they could wake us up at 7:00.  Fine by me!!!

Stockings!!!  My kids love their stockings, some years we have to pry them away to open their gifts!

Sadie really wanted a LeapPad Explorer 2 this year.  Her cousin, Rachael, has one and they have a wonderful time playing it together.  One of her favorite features is that she can take pictures and make movies with it.  

Ethan really wanted a remote control helicopter.  Thankfully, that wasn't too difficult to find.

Can you see how terrible some of these pictures are looking?  I seriously need and want a new camera...more about this later.

My sister, Lisa, gave Sadie these pink ear muffs on Christmas Eve.  She thought she had died and gone to heaven.  She tried wearing them to bed, but alas, that didn't work.  Needless to say, this is how she looked most of Christmas Day.   Pajamas, bright pink ear muffs and her LeapPad...apparently these three things are a girls new best friends.  In this shot she's telling Ethan where to place his helicopter so she can videotape him playing with it.  Once he had it where she wanted it she said, "Ready.  Set.  Action!"  In case you're wondering, no, she never stops making us laugh!

Abby has been wishing for a CRICUT cutter for so long that I can't remember when the wishing began.  All I know is that she doesn't have to wish anymore.  She is madly in love with this paper cutting and creating machine!

  
Jenna started a sewing class in the fall at school this year.  She immediately fell in love with creating things out of fabric.  I think she was two weeks into the school year when she started asking for a sewing machine for Christmas.  Being as that I don't sew, I had to do some serious investigative research in order to find her the right thing.  She was, of course, thrilled and exclaimed, "This is the best Christmas present Santa has ever brought me!"  If you know Jenna, this is a huge reaction and great accomplishment for Jared and I...I mean Santa!  She has been sewing up a storm and has even offered to teach me to sew.  She also asked if we could move Jared out of his office and put all of his stuff in the family room so she could have her own sewing room.  Not to worry, Jared and I quickly helped her return to reality at that suggestion. 

    
 Jared DID NOT want his picture taken on Christmas, but I absolutely insisted.  That's just the way I am.  Jared was given a new blu ray player equipped with a surround sound system for the family room.  He loves his gift, he hates having his picture taken.  Enough said.

Quick side note:  Can you see the fire behind Jared in the fireplace.  It was a cold and snowy Christmas, we loved having a fire going in the fireplace keeping us all toasty warm while we opened our gifts. 

I have been wanting a new camera for a really long time.  The one I have is fine, but it's been dropped a few times by my littles and it just doesn't always take great pictures.  Sometimes the pictures are blurry or the lighting is all messed up, even if the lighting situation is ideal.  Needless to say, Jared surprised me with a beautiful, new Nikon for Christmas.  I love, love, love it!  I made the kids do all kinds of crazy things throughout the day on Christmas as I read the instruction manual and played with it.  Any pictures you see on this blog from this day forth will be taken on my new camera.  FYI, Jared isn't moving his office into the family room for a photography room for me either.  Just sayin.'
 

 
We finished off our day with a delicious Christmas dinner and then we watched a movie on Jared's new blu ray system.  The sound and picture are amazing!!!  We are so blessed to be a family and to feel the love of our Saviour each day in our lives.