Christmas Day 2012

Christmas Eve Aaron and I finally went to bed around 11:15 or so.  This is what the living room looked like after Santa left.

We didn't get much sleep though.  Melanie woke up to eat around 12:30.  I was finally getting back to sleep when Max started barking just before 1:00 am.He didn't stop until after 1:30.  We couldn't figure out what he was barking at, but he was definitely disturbed by something, he barked and growled and paced.I guess my imagination ran wild because when I finally fell asleep I had an awful dream that was very sci-fi, and somehow we were protected in the house, but things were burrowing under the ground, and everyone outside was dying, and the there was some strange purple lighting or something.  I woke up at 2:00 am and struggled to get back to sleep.  At 2:30 David woke up to "go to the bathroom".  He never wakes up in the middle of the night!  So I led him to the bathroom, and made sure he went straight back to his room.  Around 3:00 my Dad sent a text.  Usually I don't have my phone in the bed room, but for some reason last night I did.  Then Melanie woke up to eat at 3:30.  At 5:00 Amy woke up and asked if it was morning yet.  I told her it wasn't, but she wanted her blankets put on her, and apparently I put them on in the wrong order.  At 5:30 David was awake again, followed by Timothy - both used the bathroom.  Aaron was restless, and offered to leave the room so I could get some rest.  I didn't think I would sleep, but I did, until 6:15 when Melanie woke up to eat again.  By 6:30 everyone was up except Melanie, so we started our day right then - exhausted already!

The older kids at the top of the stairs

David still had a sore throat, and complained of a headache, so ibuprofen was administered to ensure he still had a good day.

Amy checking out her doll house from Santa

The boys spying their R/C monster trucks

"Look it even has a bath tub."

trying them out

I was really hungry, so we decided to have breakfast - just cereal.  Amy only had about 2 ounces of milk, and David said his throat hurt so he only took about 5 bites of his cereal.  Of course they would rather open presents.  I got a couple of pictures.

Amy got some Polly Pockets

The boys got a ramp that Aaron made for their monster trucks

Melanie got a cute Santa hat and teddy bear

the kids got a table top pool table

Melanie got a playmat from Santa

At some point I looked outside and noticed it was snowing, the kids were pretty excited.  I didn't take pictures of everything, but everyone got books from Grammy R* and 6 DVDs/Blu-Ray Discs - Lorax from Grandpa R*, Rescuers and Rescuers Down Under from Aunt  Becca, Brave, Rio and Finding Nemo from Mom and Dad.  Auntie Eva got everyone cute socks, and some much needed pants for Melanie, Andes mints for the boys, and some awesome jewelry for me.  Grandma G* made cute hats for Amy, Melanie and a doll size one.  She got the boys these electronic Einstein quiz things - basically 20 twenty questions games.  Grandpa G* made a doll sized picnic table and benches for Amy and Melanie.  There was a small tea set to go with it.  Santa got a salad spinner and some nice serving dishes for me, and a network back-up system for Aaron.  It is going to take about 3 days to back up all our files from all our devices, but then we will be able to access them from anywhere!  Everyone got some clothes, and socks.  I got some more jewelry from Aaron and Santa, I also got new Christmas decorations.  

The latest installment of the White House ornament we were excited when it arrived Christmas Eve!

Ornaments from my Mom.  There are 6 so we'll have to put current pictures in them.

 A new Nativity scene, small and durable, and really cute.

David got a quality yo-yo and some John Bytheway CDs.  Timothy got a doodle robot that he built with Aaron's help, and some new twistable crayons for all of the awesome drawings he does.  Amy got some great Hello Kitty things from Grammy R* and a pink medical kit (what Aaron got from the hospital party).  Melanie didn't get quite as many presents, but then again she doesn't need much.  She got a few toys like a teething ring, and keys, and links,  She got a crocheted hat from Grandma P* and one from Grammy R* as well some cute clothes.  She got a few stuffed animals as well.

My favorite gift I got her was new crib sheets - Aaron put together the crib last Thursday, so she's ready to sleep in Amy's room, well as soon as I'm ready for her to sleep in Amy's room.

Max got a couple of things too.  This is not a gift, but rather the life preserver looking "cone" to keep him away from his stitches.

It was quite a mess afterward

Amy's stash

Once presents were opened we talked to the G* family via Facetime since we knew about their new ipad.  They got to watch the kids open their gifts from them.  We talked with them for about 30 minutes until it was time to call Uncle Brandon in Guatemala. We cleaned up a bit, and then Aaron took the boys outside to play with their R/C trucks.  They are safe in snow, and on rocks, but running them on the grass burns out the engines.  It's a good thing we have lots of gravel.

The boys playing with their monster trucks out in the snow.  There was no snow when we woke up, that all fell before 11:00 am

We were also able to Skype with my family as they all met over at Auntie Eva's new place.  We got to show them what we got, and thank them for the things they sent, and my mom showed me around my sister's new place.  My two brothers and my sister Tina and her family were also there.  We had some leftovers for lunch, and then Aaron and the kids went downstairs to watch the Lorax.  Melanie and I went upstairs and took a nap!!!  I needed that so bad, I only wish we had slept longer.  The boys played with their trucks outside again, and Amy watched Nemo in her room.  I think I spent some time on the computer and snacked on all the goodies in the house.  When I went to change Melanie's diaper I remembered this onesie I hadn't put on her yet.

I had to add the hat my mom sent.

Then I had to put more clothes on her!  It was a bit chilly.  We were tired of leftovers already, so I made some creamy potato soup to go with all the rolls we had left.  Then we watched Brave together.  The kids went to bed.  I cleaned up the kitchen, and put Melanie to bed.  Aaron was on the phone with our internet company - this is an all too familiar situation.  While he was on the phone his pager went off.  I almost forgot he was on call.  He had to go in around 10:00.  With all the kids asleep I probably should have slept too, but I couldn't so I spent a little more time on the computer until Melanie woke up to eat, then I went to feed her and went to bed.  Aaron got home around 11:30.  What a long, but fabulous and awesome, white Christmas!!!!

Christmas Eve 2012

Sunday was a pretty good day.  We slept in a bit, but when Melanie got up I fed her and then made breakfast.  I got ready for church and got the kids ready for church, and I got to watch Music and the Spoken Word.  I missed it the week before.  They showed part of the most recent Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.  The one with Alfie Boe, and Tom Brokaw telling the story of Hal Halverson "The Candy Bomber".  It was great!  Good thing I hadn't done my make-up yet!  I pulled out Amy's Christmas dress, but it was a size 3 and too small!  Luckily I had a size 4 in there too.  I guess I'll just have to wait for Melanie to grow into it.

Church was great.  I enjoyed the music and the talks!  I ended up feeding Melanie during Sunday School again, and she slept for the rest of church again!  I really enjoyed our RS lesson, and I finally remembered to hand out the ornaments Aaron and I made for the RS meeting at the beginning of the month.

After talking to people after church we made it home, and had some lunch.  Then our home teacher came over for a visit, and brought lots of goodies, some of which his daughters had made.  Then Aaron and David went home teaching.  Melanie was still sleeping, so I took advantage of the time.  I didn't want to spend my entire Christmas Eve cooking, so I made a double batch of rolls on Sunday, and saved some for Monday's dinner.  When Aaron got home he started the roast.  Then he brought the puzzle upstairs onto the kitchen table, and we worked on it throughout the evening.  I also planned a short home evening lesson.  We had plenty of treats since Bonnie G* and The E* family brought some things by.  So we didn't make any dessert.

The roast ended up taking a lot longer to cook than we expected, so we had a really late dinner - almost 8:00!  But it was delicious!  After the kids went to bed we took some pictures of Melanie in her little Santa hat.

Monday was Christmas Eve.  It had snowed a bit over night, but most of it melted throughout the day.  Aaron had to work, but not until 8:00, so we enjoyed breakfast together, and scripture study.  David was complaining of a sore throat.  So I told him to gargle salt water.  He wasn't too thrilled with that suggestion, but he did it anyway.  I didn't have much planned for the day, just playing, cleaning up a bit, and watching a movie with the I*s.  We worked on the puzzle for a bit while David started writing out a Christmas Program for that evening.

At about 10:00 things started going downhill.  Not only were the kids fighting, but David told me that Max had ripped apart his cone, and was licking his stitches.  I was so frustrated with that dog!  He destroys everything!  Well we tried several different things, but none of them were working.  Then David said his head hurt.  He voluntarily went up stairs to take a nap.  Then I knew something was wrong.  At lunch time he came down in his coat and said he was cold.  I'd had the oven on for about an hour toasting bread for the stuffing and making egg rolls for lunch.  It was hot in the kitchen.  Aaron called in the midst of all this.  He was trying to deliver the things the people at the clinic had collected for the family whose house had burned down, but they weren't home, so he was looking for a contact number.  He could tell I was frustrated, so when they were done he called back.  I told him everything that was going on, and we talked it though.  I texted Juliana to let her know we weren't coming, then I put Melanie down for a nap.  Finally Amy and Timothy were playing downstairs some kind of make believe game.  It was really cute!  So I cleaned up the kitchen, and felt much better.  Later Aaron called he had found a vet that was open and got a new cone, and he had me look in David's throat.  We determined it wasn't strep, so I gave him some ibuprofen, and let him rest.  By then Amy and Timothy were done with their game so I put on a movie for them. Things were going much better, even though David was sick, and was feeling even worse that he was sick on Christmas Eve.  So I started dinner.  The rolls were already done, I used the left over roast from Sunday, the stuffing was ready to go in the over, the cheese ball was done.  I just had to make the potatoes, and whip the cream for the cranberry salad.  Aaron was done with clinic a little after 4:30, so he delivered the donations on the way home.  When he got home he whipped up some ranch dip for the chips, and we set the table with our holiday dishes and ate Christmas Eve dinner before 6:00!

We had two more people deliver goodies to us, so we didn't bother making any dessert.  David wasn't up for the Christmas Program he had planned, so we did a small one anyway.  Amy and Timothy made a manger, and used one of Amy's dolls for baby Jesus.

 She did have her Christmas dress on :)

 Amy and Timothy posed for me before the program

 Poor David sat like this the entire time

 Aaron played the piano for us while we sang some Christmas songs.

 Melanie sat with me

 Amy played Mary and Timothy played Joseph - note the costume change made last minute (because the towel had a hood unlike the blanket.)

 Aaron read from Luke 2, while the kids acted out the scene

 I didn't sing a solo this year with my raspy voice, but I did sing along while Melanie sucked on her finger

 The kids played around a bit after the program was over.

We watched a few videos on the Mormon Channel 

 Melanie fell asleep

David took a hot shower hoping that would help him feel better.

Then it was time for our traditional Christmas Eve present - new PJs

 David was a good sport and smiled for a picture even though he wasn't feeling well.

Aaron and I finished the puzzle while waiting for kids to fall asleep and Santa to arrive.  We were missing two pieces :(  But we found one on the kitchen floor, and one under the white board.