We...

Decked the halls

Wrote out letters to Santa

We sat down a few nights ago and wrote Bode's letter to Santa. Bode went and put his in his stocking and brought me another piece of paper and told me we needed to write a letter for Laine Jo too. So we did. I had to run to the store after that and when I came home Bode had written letters for all of us. Jeremiah told me that Bode was concerned that Santa wouldn't bring anything for Mom and Dad and we needed letters too.

This year Bode wanted:
Transformers

A bike

And Lightning McQueen Stuff

McQueen story to follow someday soon

We torched a ham.

Yum. If you ever what a yummy ham make sure you do it this way.

Partied with family.

Took our traditional family picture by the tree.

The kids got to open their Christmas Eve gift.

Of course it is jammies. Bode was super excited to open a present. I wonder what year it will be when he realizes the only gift he gets to open on Christmas Eve is jammies.

Then we all slept like babies and opened presents in the morning.

Well the babies slept like babies. I didn't sleep all that well. I honestly was so excited I could barely sleep. This year Bode has been really into Christmas. I was looking forward to his Christmas morning. He didn't disappoint. He ran down the hall and jumped on our bed telling us the "Ho Ho brought me a bike!!".

I wonder what next year will bring for our family. Judging by this picture below it could be a fun one.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year. We sure did. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole season. Children put a different spin on the holidays. Every Christmas light, song and decoration is amazing to them and I enjoyed the joyous spirit my children brought into our home this year.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed having family over for dinner. We had a great homemade honey-baked ham made by Jeremiah. And stayed up later than normal having fun with the Brooks family. (same time next year?) Bode was so wound up I was afraid he wouldn't ever go to sleep. But he finally did thank goodness. Although Laine had no idea what was going on she was silly all evening because she could tell things were different. As soon as Bode was asleep and family was gone Santa came ;)

Luckily Bode and Laine were nice to Mom and Dad and they slept in until 7:30. We opened presents and then got all ready to spend Christmas day with the Davis and Brooks Families. I am grateful that we have such good people in our lives. It was fun to spend the day with people and not sitting around the house. Jeremiah was able to have Christmas Eve off but not Christmas day. I did however really miss not seeing my parents and family for Christmas. I was talking to my mom and she was talking about having a beautiful white Christmas and at that time I was driving and all I could see was dirt and cactus, it made me homesick. I am glad that I get to see all of my family this week for our Merrill White Elephant Party.

Just one more small story before I get off the computer and on to taking down all my Christmas decorations. We had lunch at the Davis's home on Christmas morning. There are a bunch of people and kids around and Bode loves to go and play with everyone. We were all inside while all the kids were outside playing. After a little bit I noticed all the kids were inside but I didn't see Bode. I went outside and there was no Bode. I went back inside to get Jer. We started looking for him. The Davis's house is kind of off the road with a bunch of other custom homes around and land. I was trying not to panic but we couldn't find him anywhere! I knew there were pools around and my heart was pounding. Jer enlisted the help of Rena, Lee, Aaron and Heather and we all were looking for him. Right about the time I was about to really panic we found him. He had followed some people to the neighbors house to see horses and chickens. He wasn't gone for more than 10 mins but oh boy it scared me. It was such a relief to hear Jer yell that he had found him. Bode just told us they said he could go see chicken so he went. Needless to say he got a good talking to about letting Mom and Dad know where you are going. BUT that wasn't the only little scare of my day. We were over at the Brooks's house in the afternoon. Bode was outside playing when I thought it was about time to go check on him. And again, no Bode. We looked around the property and the garage and then I saw him in our car. He somehow open the door to the Tahoe and locked himself inside. Oh man, I need a GPS on this kid.

Now I am off to take down Christmas. This season has gone my too fast. I normally can't wait to take down Christmas stuff but I am loving the warmth all my Christmas decoration have added to my house this year. I am feeling reluctant to take it all down.

Happy New Year Everyone!