Christmas Day 2016

Our family had a very successful Christmas. I made good on my promise not to have noisy toys this year. Except Bridget's pink ukulele. On Christmas Eve they all opened their new pajamas; Bridget and Analy got matching American Girl pajamas, Emil got Darth Vader pajamas and Colin got BB8 pajamas (remember, he can't be on the Dark Side).

Bridget claims she was up for HOURS Christmas morning before she finally came into our room at 6:20 and asked if we could open presents. I was going to make her wait until 7:00, but Brian was weak. They woke up the brothers while I plugged in the tree and got the camera ready.

Poor Colin. He'd rather keep sleeping, I think. All the presents from Santa were arranged by the kids' stockings, as usual.

Santa realized on December 20th that the Radio Flyer wagon Emil asked for was a lot more money than he thought, so Emil got the mini version. I'm sure Emil had a 100 thoughts cross his mind when he saw that tiny wagon, but he chose, "I guess I really didn't say what size the wagon needed to be..." Whew! He's been perfectly happy with it. Colin got his favorite movie, "Kubo and the Two Strings" in his stocking. Fist pump.

I think that's Bridget noticing she got the skateboard she asked for. I see now that I've put these photos out of order.

Magnet Checkers (regular and Chinese) for the boys, smelly markers for Bridget. Stocking gifts are so fun! The present on the couch is Lego Mind Storm for the whole family... mostly Dad. We opened the rest of the gifts after I put the camera down.

Brian is helping Bridget figure out the lava lamp I gave her. He's wearing the neck cozy from Grandma Peggy and he's got the T-shirt quilt I made him covering his legs. Now that I've had a chance to take a nap with that quilt, I officially need one for myself. Also, the boys are busy studying their Pokemon cards. (They had to memorize them because they knew the cards would be in the wind in a few hours.)

I had the kids pose with as many of their presents as they could. Bridget got a ski helmet and a balaclava from Dad, the skateboard and ukulele from Santa, a necklace from her birth mother, fake nails from Colin, sparkly clay from Emil, the lava lamp and Princess in Black books from me, a pretty jacket from Grandma and Grandpa Lee, and a hammock from the Boney family.

Emil wasn't as cooperative for a present photo. He got a wagon and a bucket of Legos from Santa, ski lessons and a balaclava from Dad, the illustrated Harry Potter book and piano books (with lessons) from me (there was a little drama when he saw the piano books and loudly said he didn't want them), a truck with a trailer and side-by-side from Bridget, a scratch art dinosaur book from Colin, hoodie and book from Grandma and Grandpa Lee (and the neck cozy), markers and case from Mom and Dad, and a hammock from the Boney family. (I'm writing all of this down because we are getting the Thank You cards out this year if it KILLS me.)

Colin got a Lego 3 in 1 house set (Santa didn't think Power Ranger Legos existed), Mini Pixel Art (which he LOVED and finished quickly), and the Charmander Pokemon figures he's been dreaming about from Santa. Colin got ski lessons and a balaclava from Dad, an illustrated Harry Potter book and piano books with lessons from Mom, markers and case from Mom and Dad, paints and paper from Bridget, a stuffed T-Rex from Emil, a hoodie and book from Grandma and Grandpa Lee, and a hammock from the Boneys.

I can't stand how much I love this photo. He told Grandpa Harold later that he got to page four in Harry Potter. :)

Analy got a dog! She was pretty stoked.

We went to church, which is really my favorite about Christmas on Sunday. What better way to remember what it's all about? I accompanied a violin duet on the piano and had a harrowing moment when the last page of the piece floated off the piano and out of my reach while I was on the second page. I had to choose a spot to stop playing, stand up and get the last page, sit down and figure out where the violins were and start playing again. It all worked out, of course. Some people didn't even notice me stand up. An advantage of being so short. ;)

After church we went to Brian's parents house to open presents from them, show off the kids' favorite gifts, eat, and visit.

Bridget brought her ukulele to show Grandma and Grandma sang and played a little song. 

The kids got mini drones from Grandma and Grandpa. Yay!

Daddy was behind this gift, I think. :)

Colin brought his pixel art (so many little pieces!!!) and Grandpa set up a card table for him. 

We got to see and talk to Cousin Janessa on her mission in Peru! She and her companion sang us a Christmas song in Spanish. 

Even though we were exhausted, I had to finish this house before Christmas Day was over. Colin would help me when his drone was charging, then run downstairs and fly it with Dad and Bridget and Emil. Emil's box of Legos has the most possible wheels and he likes to do his own thing, so it was just right for him. Emil asked Colin to build the house with the garage first so he could park his yellow car in it. :)

I got a waffle iron from the boys! We had waffles with raspberry syrup for Christmas breakfast. Brian gave me a Wonder Woman suitcase and Bridget gave me an electric pencil sharpener (nailed it!). It was the best - no one was sick this year, my favorite gift of all.