Oh How Lovely Was The Morning

Christmas morning came.
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The stockings were full of little surprises for anxious children who awoke at 3am!
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Mom and Dad threatened to phone Santa on his cell if children did not go back to bed.

When the exhausted parents were eventually coaxed from bed at 7am, down the stairs we all came, but not to the tree, but to the table we went.

We wrote down our gifts to the Savior for the new year.

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For posterity's sake I will record later what everyone's gifts were, but for now, we gave him things such as an increase in love for each other, less contention, more commitment to prayer and scripture study, more frequent temple service, more respect for each other and even more focus on our fasts. Annie even committed to continuing to sleep through the night!

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We finished by singing the Savior "Happy Birthday" and said an opening prayer for our Christmas morning.

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This was a wonderful experience.

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One I will not soon forget!

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Next to the half-eaten cookies and milk...Proof that a special visitor had been to our home.

Annie was ready in her swing, donning her hat and a smile!

Her siblings found her very own white chocolate snowman in her stocking and insisted that she hold it!

Annie received ONE gift...from "Santa" of course!

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Here are her THREE emotions to her new "BUMBO!"

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FIRST SAD...

THEN HAPPY...

THEN WONDERING JUST HOW LONG SHE WOULD BE SITTING ALONE...

Easton at his BIG moment!

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A new skateboard deck that hopefully will last longer than his last SIX!

Madison beams with her new phone.

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Life was unbearable with the "free" phone she had been forced to use.

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Now she can be seen talking on her phone in public!

A.J. and Easton are overcome with excitement!

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And for the life of me, I can't remember why, but it made for a sweet brotherly pic!

A.J. created a totem post custom-made for his father!

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John is beyond words, but not looks!

Ellie LOVED her super-sized coloring book from Santa!

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Who said simple things couldn't bring huge smiles?

The boys with the latest in their favorite football games. Mom says, "GO BYU!"

Ellie loves her little dog from Daddy!

Brooke LOVED her High School Musical 3 CD from her big sister, Madie!

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We exchanged names this year, and they got each other.

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Brooke had a special blanket made just for Madie, by our dear friend, Kippy!

The morning ended just like it had begun...with Annie smiling!

It was our simplest Christmas to date.

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After 14 1/2 years of being a family...it was one of my absolute favorites!

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Merry Christmas to all!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the eve...

We were eating dinner with Nana, Papa and Leslie, as you can see.

There was good food, and laughter and plenty of smiles.

And we were grateful to have Aunt Leslie come home from so many miles.

Aunt Leslie made sure the dishes were done,

And then held Annie too, for a bit of some fun.

John, Easton, A.J. and Papa posed for a picture by me.

Papa sitting with Brooke who is smiling with glee!

The girls on the couch with dad and Papa so dear,

And A.J. smiling from ear to ear!

Dad looks tired with thoughts of late wrapping.

These two, unaware, will be quietly napping!

Ellie jumped in to join in the fun.

And Annie is ready, but may have jumped the gun.

For Nana has started her sweet tradition for us.

By reading all of the children, The Night Before Christmas!

The night was a success, we would all agree.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, sweet dreams!

Girls, girls, girls.

THIS IS PART I of my CHRISTMAS CATCHUP!

Girls, girls, girls.

When I was younger, I dreamed of having a house full of boys.

You see... I love boys. I understand boys. I have no style, like most boys. I love football more than clothes.

Now my sisters...they have GREAT style. They were born "girly girls." They can make anything look pretty.

They have more creative talent in one finger, than I have in my whole being on my best day!

So, one of my sisters bore three boys before her two precious girls came to grace their home.

And I am certain that my other sister, who wed this past July, has a line full of boys waiting to join her here.

This all leads into what I discovered down in my basement several days ago...

BROOKE

AND ELLIE (in costume)

These two adorable girls dancing up a storm!
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It was so cute! Even I sat down and enjoyed the show!
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There was great music, beautifully creative "moves", and lots of dramatic turns and poses!

Look at that foot positioning!
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I am no dance instructor, but even I can see genius in that move!

This is where Ellie enlisted Brooke's help to literally twirl around, toes pointed and all!

The performance was spectacular!

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The grace...perfect!

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I was humbled to be the mother of these two little girls that night!

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I will forever be grateful for Madison, Brooke, Ellie and Annie!

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Good thing Heavenly Father knew that girls would bless my life as much as those little boys I dreamed of so many years ago.

It's a girl...

an Angel, a little beauty

and I am madly in Love with her

It's official... I am seriously in love with my little one!

I spend way too much time staring at her and not enough time folding laundry.

My house is a wreck.

One project after another pulled out and not finished.

Relatives are in town for the holidays and presents have not even been bought, much less wrapped.

Yet, there she is. Being held by her siblings as they coach a smile out of her.

There she is sleeping next to me in my bed.

There she is swinging quietly.

I'll start on the house tomorrow...but for now...I'll go watch her sleep for a few.

Presenting...

The Ward Christmas Play

What can you do with scrap material, painted cardboard, and Primary songs?

A precious ward Christmas play!

It was adorable. Angels doubled as townspeople. Sunbeams beamed as sheep. Children smiled while singing. And parents were entertained by their children in the purest sense of the word.

The ward choir ROCKED! I don't mean they were good, they ROCKED! So entertaining and fun! Full of smiles and charming songs!

There were tables full of treats, families posing for ward memories, and neighbors learning more.

It was a magical evening!

Easton, already out of costume and smiling with a new friend!
These are our townspeople who are secretly angels underneath!

Brooke and Mary smiling at the Relief Society SWAP

Shepherds were seeking the child

"Angels we have heard on high"

Our resident sheep, Ellie

Our very own angel, Brooke!

The Wisemen with some townspeople!

Our sweet Sunbeams, AKA...the sheep!