Christmas Day

Our kids are early risers, so Christmas morning begins early. But it's the one day a year that I don't mind being up early with the kids. We did tell Chloe and Mitchell that they couldn't get out of bed even a minute before 6:00 a.m... They came into our room at 6:02. We waited to wake the babies up just before 6:30.

We got our traditional family picture on the stairs. Boy do I look tired... and boy does Lexi look grumpy. Who can be grumpy on Christmas morning??

The kids were sure excited to see what Santa brought them.

The big kids ran to the stockings while the babies ran to the table to see if Santa had eaten all the cookies (they couldn't stop talking about it on Christmas Eve). He had eaten all of them, and had even left a note.

Everyone was pretty pleased with what Santa had brought them in their stockings.

We have one glide/balance bike already, but Santa knew with two competitive twins that we would likely need a second one this spring and summer. He brought in the old green one, which Lexi already claims.

And Leah tried out the new red one.

Mitch was thrilled with receiving the Cars 2 DVD from Santa. Just what he wanted.

Chloe got a note from Santa, explaining his gift to her (and the lack of her desired Barbie Dream house).

Santa brought her knee pads, elbow pads and wrist pads to go with the new roller blades we got her. She was very happy and never once complained about not getting what she asked Santa for.

Lexi, always cheesing for any camera, loved the sheep pillow and blanket set from Nana and Papa.

Leah got a cow one!

Mitch finally got a T-Rex. He has been obsessed with dinosaurs this past year and has longed for a T-Rex of his own (real or otherwise).

Ben got me a cute new jacket!

It was so fun to watch the twins open gifts this year. They just loved opening them and all the candy in their stockings the most.

The cutest part of Christmas morning is seeing how excited the kids get over gifts. They were especially sweet and loving with each other when they opened a gift they had given another sibling. Here Lexi hugs Chloe after opening a toy phone from her.

While I made breakfast, the kids played with their toys. Chloe took her rollerblades for a test drive inside.

Leah and Lexi got new baby dolls from Ben's grandparents. They came with bottles and binkies and they were a hit!

For breakfast we had our traditional breakfast cake for Jesus. We lit candles and sang happy birthday to him.

The kids loved blowing out the candles!

Breakfast was a hit! Since we are early risers, we had presents opened, breakfast made, eaten and cleaned up by 9:00 a.m. That gave us plenty of time to get ready for Church at 11:00.

Having Christmas on a Sunday was wonderful. I was not looking forward to having to get everyone dressed and presentable (and dragging ourselves away from our toy fun and comfortable clothes), but it made our Christmas Day so much more spiritual and great. The musical program was fantastic and so touching (I was teary eyed by the end of the opening song). It was the perfect addition to our Christmas morning and the best way to really celebrate the birth of our Savior.

I didn't think we'd have time to get pictures of everyone in their Christmas clothes, so we took pictures of the kids the Sunday before.

We were so ahead of schedule on Christmas morning that we got another one of all the kids

And a family shot too.

After church, we came back and quickly changed back into our comfy clothes, then spent the rest of the afternoon eating treats, playing with new toys and spending time together.

Before bed, I had all the kids get a traditional picture in front of the tree with all their gifts.

Chloe

Mitch

Leah

Lexi

My favorite day of the year went by much too quickly, but it was such a wonderful day.