Christmas morning part III (Asay's)

We were so excited to skype with Jared and find out he's coming home in just 3 weeks!  I'm anxious to see how the kids react and how well they remember him. 

Asay choir singing happy birthday.

 more pre-dinner wrestling

Stetson putting gma's slippers on

mom and Janelle

Stetson took some pics of everyone.  We are so blessed to have the wonderful family we have--we got great presents and we all felt so loved.  Kandace & Janelle got fancy matching purple dresses which are so cute, Stetson got a huge remote control car, Michael and I got some clothes and some other things and the day was great.  Things always get hectic at the last stretch of Christmas and I lose sight of whats most important.  I was taking my nativity down today and couldn't believe how fast it flew by.  Jesus Christ is the best part of Christmas and of every day, if we let him in.

Christmas morning part II (Dads)

We usually head to dad's Christmas morning for breakfast and present opening.  Every year dad reads a story about the Christmas box.  Its a special story that I love and it brings Christ back into Christmas.  If we ever don't get to see dad on Christmas, I'll be sure to re-create it at our house. 

Zach & Trav

Woah

Cole got a tablet like me.  For Christmas this year, dad went through all his slides and put them in chronological order and had them put on a CD where he's actually narrating it telling us the dates, people, places, etc.  Michael and I watched it last night and it was awesome.  The CD goes from dad's mission up to November '83, shortly after my birth.  First of all, my mom is BEAUTIFUL.  She had her kids really close together and you can see her and dad aging as the slides progress, but they were vigilant in providing for and nurturing their family.  Dad was super active in scouting from the get-go, was called as bishop of the SR 2nd ward as a young father, mom had 4 of her 7 children at home, they traveled, waterskiied, had goats, experimented with home schooling, remodeled their house and more.  I'm excited for the next CD hopefully coming next Christmas!

Christmas morning part I

 Thankfully, the kids still get up at a reasonable hour on Christmas morning.  I remember being up before 6 when I was little.  Stetson was up first and then we woke up Kandace, then Janelle at almost 8:30.  Stetson's main presents were a dinosaur that walks and roars (at his specific request), games and a scooter.  Kandace's main ones were a princess bike, tutus and sparkle belts.  The first thing she said when she saw her bike was "there's a place for my baby!"  And she ran to her room and stuck her baby in and then rode it around the house a minute.  Michael got me a tablet which I'm excited about.  It will be nice to not have to take my scriptures and manuals to church and the games and other apps will come in handy when I need to bribe, er entertain the kids.  Michael and I got our TV a couple weeks ago and counted that as one of our Christmas presents, but Michael was sweet and got me several other things.  He was cute about letting the kids buy presents for each other.  For a couple days he took turns taking the kids to family dollar after work so they could pick out presents for each other and for me.  He is a sweetheart.  Nella bell got a tutu that matches Kandace and toys.

Stetson got a rubber band gun in a corn dog box. woot!

Someone's excitement is spilling over in this pic. Woah.

Little nella was excited about her presents too!  We sure love her.