Christmas Day 2010

Christmas morning everyone woke up happy and excited to head downstairs to the main tree to see what goodies were left for them.  Before we let the kids go downstairs, we tortured them by making them pose for jammie pictures by the tree in the loft.

~So excited to head downstairs!~

Before they could get to this:

~Lots of great presents!~

They had to get through this:

~The wall o' wrapping paper.~

Once we FINALLY let the kids downstairs, they discovered the archway leading to the front room was covered in wrapping paper.  As part of our preparations the night before, J-rod and I put up the wall o' wrapping paper so Santa could work his magic undisturbed.  We also figured it would be a good alert system should anyone of our kiddos decide to sneak into the front room before the rest of the family was awake Christmas morning.

At first C-sta didn't know quite what to think, Li'l J was hesitant to run through it, but M thought it pretty cool and was excited to break through the paper.  We got a good chuckle when M told us we were sneaky for having put it up.  Sneaky? Maybe.  Clever? Yes!

1. I snuck through the front door to get the first peek.

2. C-sta found it easiest to CRAWL under the wall o' paper! Ha!

3. M strolls through with his eyes closed,
still waiting to be surprised.

4. Li'l J still not sure about the paper.

5. Now this is the kind of reaction I was looking for!!

At our house, Christ is the center.  Having said that, that is not to say we completely leave out the element of Santa.  After all, one of the most "magical" parts of Christmas is a young child's belief in Santa and I do not feel that including a few of the traditions surrounding Santa takes anything away from the Spirit of Christmas--Love, Giving, Selflessness, Service--all traits taught by our Savior and reinforced by the belief in Santa.

We have a growing collection of Christmas books, among them is a children's book that addresses the very subject: "Is Santa Claus Real?" Written by Harold Myra, Santa, Are You For Real? is the story of a young boy who has been teased by his friends for believing in Santa Claus.  The young boy Todd questions whether or not Santa truly exists and why we believe in him.  Through the telling of the story this boy and the reader learn that there once lived a disciple of Christ named Nicholas who went about doing good, loving and serving others just as the Savior did and that it is from the stories of this man's life that Saint Nick came about.  This is one of my favorite Christmas books we have and am grateful it helps to answer our children's questions.

Another image of Santa that I have come to love, comes from a beautiful figurine depicting Santa kneeling in front of the Christ child in a Nativity.  I like how this figure of the "Santa" that we know today recognizes that without Christ there would be no Christmas.

So yes, Santa plays a part in our Christmas traditions.  As mentioned in the post about Christmas Eve, we leave a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.  We even scatter "magic reindeer dust" on our front lawn to help guide the reindeer to our house on Christmas Eve.  Then Christmas morning, Santa leaves each member of our family a "big" unwrapped present by our stockings  which he fills.

Here are the boys as they took their first looks at their "Santa" gifts left in and next to their stockings.  Both boys were very happy to see that they got just what they asked for along with a few surprises.

~Santa helped make their Christmas wishes come true.~

Now it's C-sta's turn.  I love how she's looking at the box of M&M's, almost as though she can't believe they are actually for her!  I also like how her little tootsie is curled in the pic where she's sitting on her Daddy's lap.  The "Disney Princess" shoe collection she has loved from the moment she laid eyes on them and couldn't wait for us to get them out of the package.  She wears those shoes all the time now...in fact, as I type this she is clicking around the house in the Cinderella shoes she wore on Christmas Day! : ) 

~Another very happy kid!~

After checking out the goodies Santa left, we exchanged the presents we got for each other.  Li'l J had a really fun time going on a shopping date with me early in the season to pick out presents for M and C-sta, and couldn't wait for them to open what he had gotten each of them.  I love the look of excited anticipation on Li'l J's face as he waited to see if the recipient would love their gift as much as he loved picking it out for them!

~What could it possibly be??~

~Perfect for their room.~

~A soft and fuzzy Dora blanket for 

the BIGGEST Dora fan Li'l J knows (and loves)!~

1. Fun toys from C-sta

2. A Star Wars Mr. Artoo-Potatoo Head from M

3 & 4. From Mom and Dad

5. Magnetic Chore Chart from G'ma Mijo

6. All of his goodies

~M with all of his goodies.~

~C-sta was more than happy to pose for us

and show us all her great presents!~

~Li'l J was SO excited to put all his

gear on and go try out his new skateboard!~

After a fun day of enjoying one another's company, watching the movie The Nativity, and having fun with our gifts, we sat down to a very delicious dinner of "roast beast" with lots of veggies and salad my mom helped us prepare.  To add to the festivities, my mom brought some traditional table "poppers" that we put on each persons place setting.  Before we began our Christmas dinner, we popped them and found fun little joke strips and toys in each one.

~Mmm, mmm, good!~

After returning home from church the next day, A helped take some pictures of me and the kiddos in their Christmas outfits and then M took a couple pictures of us sisters.  Here are the results.

~Love my kiddos, love my sis!~

We grateful for all of our blessings, but especially for the blessing of having our life enriched by our wonderful family and so many dear friends!  While we were sad we couldn't spend Christmas with all of our family, we are so grateful we were able to share this Christmas with my mom and sister A and for the great memories we made together.