Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a great Christmas! Ours was fantastic. Jason was off the whole week and we did lots of fun family stuff. It was perfect! I could make this another one of my "longest posts in the history of man" but I'm tired and want to go watch a movie with mi familia, so instead, here are a billion pictures!! (Although most of the pictures are pretty fuzzy, either because kids wouldn't hold still or because of the fact that we have an old crappy camera.)

Taking the kids to see Santa Claus at the mall.

Making/decorating a gingerbread house.

All the presents ready under the tree on Christmas Eve!!

Our neighbors gifts, ready to go.

I bought a million white plates from the dollar store and then slapped some vinyl on them to make these cute plates to put our goodies on. :) They turned out so cute!!

Jason and Jack in their pajamas all ready for our traditional formal Christmas Eve dinner in our pjs!

Payson digging in!

Jack being a cheeser.

We don't have a traditional meal each Christmas. We just choose whatever sounds delicious. This year it was homemade Cafe Rio salad. SOOOOOO good! We made the pork barbacoa, the creamy tomatillo dressing, fresh pico de gallo and guacamole, and tortilla strips. We cooked up Tortillaland tortillas which are always fresh and magically delicious. We had fresh cilantro, sour cream, lime, and cheese. The works. It was perfect!! Oh! And Martinelli's of course.

The set up.

After dinner, the kids opened one gift.

Jack was so excited about his Cars ornament.

Payson got Tangled. :)

Growing up we played Christmas Bingo every Christmas Eve. Someone (I think it was your mom, Kimber!) gave us a cute set that my mom still has to this day. But it's starting to get ruined after billions of years of use and storage, so I got myself and my mom a new set this year. A friend of mine makes them and sells them. (Let me know if you want one!!)

I think this was one of the kids' favorite things.

The cute, cute Bingo cards. We used the cereal as our pieces. We planned on using Christmas candy, but ran out....oops.

After Bingo we read some traditional books. We always read "The Polar Express" by Chris van Allsburg and have a little bell we ring to see if we can still hear. :) And "I Believe in Santa Claus" by Diane Adamson, which I HIGHLY recommend EVERYONE read on Christmas Eve. I LOVE that book. It compares Santa Claus to Christ and reminds us all that Santa Claus isn't so commercial, but is a real symbol of Christ at Christmas. It's awesome.

Then the kids left Santa's goodies and a note out by the gingerbread house.

The half eaten treats and Payson's note to Santa. He wrote her a long letter back. :)

We finished by reading the nativity story from Luke. Then the kids checked one last time for Rudolph's nose glowing in the sky outside before RUNNING upstairs and going to bed easier than I've ever seen them. It was rad.

While they were sleeping, Santa filled their stockings and left behind some fun presents.

Red for Payson.

Green for Jack.

And white for the family.

The kiddos were up bright and early to see what Santa brought!

Jack was so excited about his presents! This is the least blurry photo because of ow much he could not hold still.

Payson getting in on the action.

Santa (so smartly) hit up the stores the week after Thanksgiving to stock up on dress ups! The kids have worn them just about every minute of every day.

Sir Jack, the Knight.

Cow girl, Payson.

Bumblebee was a big hit too. As was Spiderman. Payson also got Ariel and a cheerleader costume. She was beyond thrilled.

We always take a break after Santa presents for breakfast. Waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream, juice, bacon, and sausage. So yummy!

After that was all cleaned up we headed back for more presents!!

Jason with his pile of loot.

Payson's stash.

Does Jack look happy about those presents?

AWFUL photo of me! But it's the one and only shred of evidence that I participated in anything this Christmas. So you get afro haired, make up-less, pudgy prego, swollen bosomed me. Lovely.

Payson freaked out when she realized her coolest aunts ever got her a scooter. Jack got one too. They've been riding them around in circles in the house. It's hilarious. Jack even tried to sleep on his last night. :)

It was such a perfect day! We spent the whole day playing as a family. I got everything I wanted (which was simply a blender, the soundtrack to "Newsies", the movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", and a gift certificate stating that I can buy a new leather sectional. Which I've been DYING to do for EVER! I think Jason and the kids enjoyed their Christmas just as much. It was the perfect balance of STUFF and Christ and family.

Now we're getting ready to celebrate the New Year in just a few days. Hope you have all had a wonderful 2010 and are looking forward to an even better 2011!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!