DON'T FORGET THE ORANGE!

Christmas was extra special for the parents this year, because we did not spend money on the credit card. Yes, it was all done with cash, which we have never done before. Shortly before Christmas, we met Dave.

If you haven't met him, we recommend meeting him through one of two ways.

Attend the class:

OR read his book:

Here are the kids and their loot:

Yes, really Faith, it's a DS just from Santa!

Don't forget the orange.

From Santa, 'Slippy' who is a WebKinz.

Testing out the games.

Don't forget the orange.

Ohhh, a pet shop!

Unwrapping it all and enjoying every minute of it.

Santa brought her a ball popper for 6-18 month olds. It was on special ($6.35 including tax) and guess who stills pulls it out at least weekly!

Don't forget the orange (AND M&Ms.)

Forget the orange mom! I know what is my favorite!

We LOVE Christmas!

CHRISTMAS MORNING SLEEPERS

Our kids seem to sleep better Christmas Eve than any other night of the year. Infact, we often open their doors and make noise to get them out of bed. Here are their 'first' pictures, along with one of my own --- don't laugh!

In order of waking:

Mom, reading A Christmas Dress for Ellen

Faith

Dawson, literally wiping the sleepers out of his eyes

Kate, holding Santa's gift

CHRISTMAS EVE WITH COUSINS - 2009

Christmas Eve is a fun tradition that we enjoy every year with the Jensens. We gather together for a wonderful, delicious Prime Rib dinner ... because well ... it's tradition. Then we sing a few Christmas carols - including Willy Claus - another tradition. If you've never heard it, it is a real treat. We sing a few Christmas hymns and read the story of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

AND THEN, we get to do our cousin exchange. This started a little bit ago because Christian and Connor aren't always able to spend time with us. And we want everyone to be there. This year, the Royce family had our kids:

Kate smiling with her new Tinkerbell jacket and hair bows.

The typical 'Dawson' look when he is not enthused. He received a new hat and shirt. The hat is okay, the shirt not so much (it's not in the picture.)

Faith holding up a cute Hannah Montana shirt. She loved it!

Here is Colt when he opened up his mitt.

Playing with Aunt Tracy and Christian.

Crazy Uncle Brian. (Now I know where Jordan's eyes came from!)

Another tradition is that the kids get to open pajamas to sleep in. This is one of my favorite traditions that I had as a child. Somehow, you just slept a little better in new pajamas.

Dawson soon turned his frown around.
It's amazing what Mario pajamas can do to a kid!

In front of our tree!

My turn!


The oldest!

Ahhh, the love!

They have the sillies!

During the night, we also track Santa on the website. This has been so much fun to watch video and to get them tucked in tight for the night.

CHRISTMAS EVE RECITAL

Here is the video of Faith and Grandma playing the duet for our family Christmas Eve get together. (Yes, I am THIS behind on my blog.) Please ignore the cousins and uncle in the background. It wasn't perfect, but there are 2 songs on here. Enjoy!

'MICHAEL'

Dawson has been so funny with Kate lately. And kids always say the funniest things. Latest example: Dawson will yell at Kate (like a parent) and it always starts out like this: "KATE MICHAEL JOLLEY!" We've told him that that is not her middle name, but he is not deterred by this! Maybe he's heard his middle name one too many times!

"THE STAR" - CHRISTMAS TREE 2009

The second Christmas Brandon and I shared, we bought a tree. We got all of the decorations and everything to make it beautiful. But, I could not find the right star. For me, I really wanted a star that had white lights and 'fit' our tree. Each year since Christmas 2000, we have been searching, and we finally found a star. Kate also noticed the importance of the star and talked about putting on the star the entire decorating time.

Side note: this is real life. We put up our tree far after Thanksgiving in a bit of a rush, so please ignore the small messes in our front room.

Kate picked up every ornament and said, "I put it on. The star." It was so adorable.


Starting at the bottom. Here is Faith, Dawson, and Kate putting the branches on.


Checking out the star to make sure that it would fit with our tree and the ceiling. Good news ... it worked!


Starting the lights. I always start at the bottom and wrap around each branch. This, by far, is the longest part of the decorating process and takes quite a bit of time. The tree makes Brandon break out on his arms, so I get to make sure that it is perfect.


During the light process, the kids hopped in the Christmas Tree tote and here are a few of the pics.






Finishing the decorating:



Topping the tree:





The finished product for 2009:

MEETING SANTA

These are pictures of kids telling Santa what they really wanted this year for Christmas. This was at the ward party. (The first since we have been in the ward to have Santa there. Yippeeeee!)

Faith has pretty much decided that Santa isn't real. And while we accept this fact, we can barely believe that she turned 9 last year. This still didn't detour her from making her request - a Nintendo DS.
Dawson could barely wait to tell him exactly what he wanted this year - a Webkinz.

Kate did NOT want to go and visit with Santa, though that is ALL that she talked about this year. She couldn't wait for him to come. She would say, "Santa . . . presents . . . toys!" always in that order. She asked for toys this Christmas.
If you see her sad little face, she also wanted Santa's puppy but was told no. How sad!

Santa really pulled through and delivered, we are proud to say, though he did send an email that told Dawson that he can only give DS to kids that are over the age of 9 . . .