Christmas Day 2012

Santa made his visit to our house . . .

I loved walking around our home on Christmas Eve. the children were sleeping, the tree was glowing and my husband was relaxing on the couch. Simply magical! Can I just add that I love colorful lights.

Lucy woke up first and we just went with it and enjoyed watching Christmas through her eyes while the other two slept. She was so excited about everything. I loved watching her.

The "wooden mirror to decorate" she asked Santa for. Her eyes were full of joy when she first saw it.

Then David woke up and after he looked through his stocking, they opened these cars from my sister. They played with them for a good 20 minutes before we opened another gift. (David's car was named, "Guido" and I loved hearing him say it over and over again.

This was my look of complete shock when I realized Marc got me . . .

My SECOND little blue box! Such a spoiled girl. He got me a lovely pair of pearl earrings and I felt very special.

Then Vivian woke up and Marc captured my most favorite picture from the whole day. Big sister showing her little sister all about the magic of Christmas.

Vivian immediately caught on to the joy of it all.

My sister sent David this Buzz Lightyear jet-pack and he wore it all day long!

Our sweet little angel, Vivian.

I love that they're holding hands here. Lucy was not only so excited about her presents, but she was overwhelemed with joy for Vivian and David as well. It was so heart warming to watch.

How David spent his day. Playing with his train while being Buzz Lightyear.

We had a lovely brunch with my parents.

Lucy did multiple crafts that day. It made me catch my breath as I saw how independent she is becoming. Such a beautiful little lady.

Marc was shocked that I got him his Cervelo bike. He has been telling me about this bike since we were dating. I had to work a little magic to pull it off, but in the end, we had a very happy Daddy!

It was wonderful to have my parents over. These grandkids love their Grandma.

And these two boys can't get enough of each other.

Lucy wanted to put on a dance for Grandma & Grandpa. Marc and I just sat there and giggled through the whole performance.

These three are mine and I am the luckiest Mommy ever.

Such a great big sister and such a joyful girl.

Vivian loved dancing with her Grandma.

And I am just a little bit in love with this piece of heaven.

We re-enacted The Nativity. Lucy was Mary, Grandpa was the donkey, Marc was Joseph, I was a wise man, Grandma and Vivian were angels and David was . . .

Buzz Lightyear of course! We asked him if he wanted to be Joseph and he said, "No, I'm Buzz!"

Marc insisted we get Lucy this pink violin. She has told us since she was 3 years-old, "I play the violin" and she has been enamored with anyone she sees playing one. She was so excited when she opened her violin. She plays it for us often. She is great at it. We plan to start her on lessons soon. We'll see where it goes. In the end, Christmas this year was absolutely wonderful! I loved having time to be with family. I loved seeing my children overcome with enthusiasm and to watch them dance and sing with all of their hearts. I loved surprising and being surprised by Marc. It was nothing short of magical!

Sledding

The hill in our backyard is perfect for sledding on with little ones.

We even send Vivian down all by herself and she loves it.

I love watching these two go down together.

They are so cute together.

We were able to get all three of them to go down once together.

There was a lot of giggles.

Cute babies.

And Dad was always there to pull them back up.

Lucy liked to give them a good push and then go down behind on her tummy. Such a silly girl.

Christmas Eve 2012

We started the day by going to Thanksgiving Point. We were practically the only ones there. So fun!

David loved playing the drums.

All of the kids loved the sand/water table. They built little rivers and islands for their dinosaurs. David kept telling Marc that he needed, "Big water." We got home in time to open Christmas Eve presents (pajamas and a gift from a family member who drew your name) then it was time for naps and Marc and I exchanged our homemade gifts then.

Then we were off to Grandma Kay's for Stocking Night!

My niece, Alison, just got engaged so of course all of the ladies had to hear the story.

Then each family entertained one another with a performance. Lucy did her dance to J-I-N-G-L-E Bells. We put Vivian in a leotard and let her dance along. David joined in as well. It was great.

Norah couldn't resist being a part of the action.

Here is David getting in on the action.

Then Marc read the children a beautiful story about baby Jesus.

Me with my cute niece listening to the story.

My other cute nieces signing to A White Christmas while Brigham danced along.

Then it was time to act out The Nativity. The girls wanted to be wise men as soon as they saw they got to wear the crowns.

Sweet Angel Norah giving baby Jesus some gold coins from her truck.

These two little wise men just liked to watch from the sidelines and play with the gold coins.

Such a darling little nativity group.

I love this picture of my in-laws.

My sister-in-law gave this quilt to her parents of each child's (including spouses) and grandchild's handprint on it. It was absolutely beautiful. After Stocking Night, we headed home with incredibly excited children in tow. When we got home, they were dancing and singing all over the place. We read a Christmas book, sang a few Christmas songs and Marc read from the scriptures about Jesus and then we tucked them in to bed and began the work of being Santa's little helpers.