Christmas Day

My nephew Carson and I were the first ones to wake up on Christmas morning. He was so excited (and honestly I was too!) that I didn't try to make him go back to sleep. Instead the two of us sneaked up the stairs to peak at the tree and see if Santa had come yet. I let Carson go first, and he was so excited when he saw all the toys set out under the tree. He ran back downstairs to wake everyone up and let his sisters know that Santa had dropped by.

Most everyone woke up and came upstairs. Jake and Annie didn't want to get out of bed yet. The kids were so excited to see their toys, and it was fun to see their faces. 

     

Tyler and Kelsey brought little Tayten out. He's still just a little guy so didn't know what was going on. He really liked the toy that Santa brought him. Isn't he just the cutest!

After the kids' initial excitement died down a bit, Tyler and Kelsey opened up the curtains in the front room. Sitting on the window frame holding a present, was a stuffed elf. The present's tag read, "To: Carson, Kaylee, Sophia, Sadie, & Tayten  From: Santa." The kids opened the present together to find a box of sugar cubes inside. They were a bit confused. Tyler and Kelsey told the kids that they heard something outside and that they should open the front door... 

Santa (a.k.a. Tyler) had brought the kids a pony! What a nice guy. As you can see, they were beyond excited. Carson came up with the name Pinecone, because he said the horse's ears were shaped like pinecones. They had fun feeding him some sugar cubes, and all morning we would catch Carson sneaking outside on the porch to give the horse another one. Lucky pony! Tyler put the sugar cubes up and set out a bag of carrots to keep the horse from getting a stomach ache from too much sugar. Haha!

Kiley, Scott, and Sadie didn't sleep over on Christmas Eve, but came back the next morning to open presents with everyone. The kids were content to play with the toys Santa had left for them, and us adults fell back asleep for awhile. Everyone woke back up an hour and a half or so later when Kiley and Scott arrived.

We all gathered downstairs to open presents. There are a lot of presents to open when there are 18 people there for Christmas. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them all under the tree. We had so much fun opening presents, and seeing what everyone got. The kids were so good as well, and didn't have any problems with waiting there turn.

    

There weren't any huge or fancy presents this year for Christmas, but each gift was so thoughtful and we all felt spoiled. I put together a shaving kit for Brian, complete with fancy soap, brush, and razor stand. I also got him a waterproof case for his phone, a wireless keyboard, some new clothes, and a few random gadgets for his stocking. His favorite present this year was a lock pick set that Annie and Jake got him. He's been playing with it every day since, trying his hand at unlocking some padlocks we've got. He's getting really good at it.

Brian got me some new clothes, a dvd of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, a nice (matching!) set of tupperware--something I've been needing/wanting forever-- and an electronic counter for keeping track of rows when I'm knitting. Honestly, that was my favorite present. I've started to knit a blanket and the counter will be so nice to have.

After presents were done, we cleaned up the wrapping paper and organized everything downstairs to make room for the day's festivities. Jamie and I were in charge of breakfast, so we started cooking waffles, sausage, and bacon. Tyler and Luke left to go get the chores done while we were cooking, and everyone else took shifts on watching the kiddos and helping to clean up downstairs.

After breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, we all got ready for the day. The kids couldn't wait to ride Pinecone, so Uncle Tyler saddled him up. Uncle Scott helped hold the kids on so no one fell off. It was quite chilly, so they didn't stay out long.

   

Other than making and eating a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixings, the rest of the day was spent playing games and just having fun with each other. There was a lot of laughter, teasing, hugs, and smiles throughout the day. It was perfect.