Merry Christmas!

There is nothing like Christmas morning when you get to wake up to the smiles of your kids. I really hadn't been in the holiday mood until last night. You can't help but be effected by the spirit. We read the night before Christmas and stories out of their children's bible. Their understanding of Jesus just amazes me! I reminded them to wake us up before going downstairs, because we didn't want to miss their faces.

Around 3:30 I had two VERY excited kids walking into my room. I knew that was a bit too early and would make for cranky kids all day so I told them to climb up in bed with us and go back to sleep. I was surprised they did! I woke up first around 6:30. I was so thankful for this morning and to have them snuggled up in bed with us. I wanted to wake them up, but wanted to enjoy a couple more minutes of watching my sleeping family. I was moving around on purpose until finally Bryce woke, then Leah, then Bobby. We all went down the stairs in excitement. The kids faces lit and they jumped to the sky when they saw Santa had come.

And then the most precious moment happened. Bryce said, "Wait, wait, wait!" And went and moved all of the giant presents away from the tree to find the gifts he had got for us. He said he wanted us to be first. Leah followed and got her presents to us. What kid could resist the temptation of tearing apart their presents? I was seriously touched at the gesture.

The kids got everything they wanted from their Santa lists. Bryce had wrote his list and wrote down Leah's for her. They are so baffled by how Santa does it. I highly doubt this Santa bit will last too long with them. Too much curiosity about how the heck it all goes down. Bryce keeps smirking when asking me questions. He may be onto us. Bobby thought of everything this year from keeping the fire place open, with ash trailing out, to taking a bite of cookie. He is a great Santa guy to have around!

Bobby had made me an ornament out of our first Christmas tree. It was the sweetest gift I had ever got. He did it for the following year too. It has become a tradition to cut the bottom of the tree and make an ornament, but the last 8 years he never got around to lacquering them. Today I received my complete collection of tree stumps! I LOVE them!

We are about to go off and celebrate the rest of the holiday with our families. I am so looking forward to visiting with my brothers and catching up. It's funny because even if you're not a kid, Christmas will always put a smile on your face, ear to ear!

Merry Christmas!