I'll just warn you, this is a very long post! I love Christmas and I can't bare to pick one ore two pictures to represent all the memories I have in my head. There is something always so magical about Christmas Eve. I love it. I could sit in the dark for hours starring at the twinkling lights on the tree and the gifts waiting to be unwrapped.
In the morning, after waiting and waiting for the kids to wake up... they finally did and they spotted Daxton's big present right away!!
Dax got a tool bench!!!
Needless to say, he loved it and spent so much time pushing buttons, pounding screws, and answer phone calls.
I thought it would be so big for him, but it's just perfect! He loves to help his dad measure or go get his tools to help with projects around the house. He ended up with a lot of tools from other family and what Santa brought. His Aunt Em had made him a little apron and it doubled as the perfect workbench apron. He would wear it with his tool belt. So cute!
Isaac new exactly where his #1 present was!! The elves wrapping couldn't fool him.
Skateboard!!! It has a big scary dragon on the back, which really... what more could a boy ask for?!
It didn't take him long to master his first trick on the skateboard. He carts this thing everywhere with him. He is getting good at balancing on it. He also loves to sit on it at the top of our hill and roll down. I think we need to get my dangerous son a new helmet this Summer!
Not quite the helmet I was thinking... but he's always wanted a baseball helmet. (Which Brett did too as a kid, but it's not something you usually get... so this was just cool!) It has been a big hit with the kids in the neighborhood. They tend to fight over who gets to wear it when they are playing ball in the back yard. Who knew?
Isaac loves finding Santa's note he left him!
An unexpected gift that Isaac was super excited about was glow in the dark stars for his ceiling and a moon for his wall. The moon is like a night light and it clicks through the different phases. Isaac peeks out the window at night to see if its a full, half, or crescent moon so he can match his moon to the real moon.
I loved this picture. The boys were so fun this year. I loved just watching them play! They helped each other unwrap, they unwrapped together, and they were interested in what each other got. It made me so happy!
Daxy got Elmo slippers. Hes so cute running around in them.
Isaac got another unexpected surprise from a special elf...Bey-blades! This has been the new thing this year for little boys his age, he has loved them. They are like a really fancy top that battles in an arena.
Brett and I weren't getting much for each other this year (even though Brett so didn't listen to his own advice!) He got a new soft-hard pillow and a fat monitor. It sounds lame, but I promise he has always wanted one. Instead of just knowing how many pounds you lost, you get to know your body fat percentage. He was thrilled and has loved it!
Dax loves trains and tiny cars. He got a rug to drive on and also some trains and track to play with it. He can spent quite a long time driving his trains round in circles.
I could probably watch him play with it for hours.
We had to take a break from Christmas unwrapping and go to church. It was nice to hear some Christmas messages and be reminded of why we celebrate Christmas! We are grateful for our Savior and his birth. We are grateful to be apart of this amazing gospel and be sealed together forever.
After church came another big surprise... one that Isaac has wanted for years. A Wii!!!! I have to say, it has been really fun. Brett and Isaac play a lot of sports games. I play a lot of Mario with Isaac.
Isaac got his watch. Though it stopped working that night. The elves sent a new one that still didn't work, so we are in the process of looking for a better watch.
Dax liked Isaacs helmet too. It's the best when one of the boys wears it to dinner!
Alright, I'm terrible at posing for cameras when I'm suppose to look at dressed up and cute... but I just had to show off my boots!!! Brett is such a doll. Hiding behind the tree, not wrapped or in a box (which I have never had!! My whole life my presents have been wrapped and I have never experienced the thrill of just seeing a present! It was so exciting!!!) Brett was hoping I would find them later, but Isaac picked them up and said, "whats this?!" I looked, and screamed!!! I was so excited! They are so pretty and comfortable. I have always wanted black boots and now I have them! Thank you my little Santa Claus! (or my little Santa Closet as Daxton would call him.)
The week before Christmas a very mysterious black garbage sack showed up under the tree. I thought from poking at it it was some kind of a table... ? But why would I need a table? I really had no clue. I'm usually a pretty good guesser... but I had no idea what my 3 little Santa's were up to. I was definitely not prepared for what was hiding in that sack. It totally made me cry!
My kids had painted beautiful pictures to hand over my stairs! Isaac painted me an airplane.
Dax painted me a choo-choo train. Clearly, that's what it looks like!
And then my darling husband found a little BYU student to paint a beautiful picture of my boys. I couldn't speak for a few minutes. It touched my heart so much. I love this picture!!
It's hard to take a picture of what they look like, but from afar, they hang over my steps. Brett tells me we can add to it, but for now it just makes me smile. It was such a thoughtful gift. I hear it took a very long time to dry! I'm so thankful for my sweet husband who is so good at thinking outside of the box when I am not!
Dax got another tool for his workbench. It's a power saw! It's pretty cool.
Isaac and Dax got Angry Birds!!! These are the silly stuffed animals, but they love them. Brett even got the black one, the black bomb! Dax got a small red one and the green pig. Isaac got the blue bird, yellow bird... and a surprise BIG red bird. He screams when you push a button.
Now there is a back story behind these birds. (Now this is revealing a Christmas secret... so one should be careful reading this to children.) One day my children will want to hear this story of how crazy their mother is. I knew they wanted these birds so bad. But who wants to pay $9 dollars for one small bird!? So ridiculous! On Halloween night, Dax and I ran to Wal Mart to get more candy (since we ate half of ours throughout the month!) I happen to walk by the bin of birds, picked one up and starred at it. I hated he was so much. By chance I scanned him and, wah-law! He was $1.00!!!! Are you kidding me? This bird was a dollar!!? So I zoomed my cart back up the isle and around the corner to the birds. I started digging. I ran them down the isle, around the corner, back to the scanner and.... $9.00!??? NO! I want them for $1.00!!! So I was off again. I don't know how many times I ran up and down this isle to the scanner and back to the bin of birds.
The boys just had so much fun opening stockings and little gifts. Isaac was super excited to open one present to find millions of little presents inside!!!
Santa knew he had run out of art supplies and wrapped up a lot for him! He uses his art supplies so fast it's hard to keep up with him!
Isaac got a real football. One every little boy should have. He was so excited. He carts it around with him and loves to throw it outside with his friends.
Dax got this darling car. The drill really worked and you could take apart the car and put it back together. It was so fun. I'm amazed at how fast he learned how to do it!
Following our Christmas tradition... one I really love is having dinner at Brett's parents house. We always have lasagna. It was fun being with everyone, including Brandon and Shaylah who were in town from Georgia. Dax was sleeping... sadly he started not feeling well.
Grandma gave the kids their presents. Isaac got snow boots and snow pants. He only got to use them a few times this year... the snow was lacking, a lot! So here's to hoping next year will be snow packed!
Grandma gave Dax a pop up tent and tunnel. He LOVES this tent. It drives Brett crazy, because it can get in the way, but I love it. It folds up flat and you can put it away. Plus, how fun is having a fort of your own?!
Tayven and Dax rolled around in the tent for a good long while. Nancy and LaMonte were so sweet and they gave us an office chair. It's so nice not sitting on a folding chair while in-front of the computer!! Brett had to run and get Dax medicine because he was not a happy camper. Flashbacks of pneumonia were ringing in my head from the year before. Luckily, my moms wise words of using garlic kept my boys out of the hospital and x-rays this year. The ibuprofen kicked in and we were able to go to my moms for a bit.
Grandma and Grandpa gave Isaac, Zan and Josh GIANT remote control cars. They are not little, but they are fun! Isaac takes it outside on the road and drives it all over. It is such a cool car. I like the feature that it has rechargable batteries!
We didn't get to stay too long at my parents, due to my sick little Dax, but he was happy enough to open his big present.
He got a car too! It's actually a darling talking truck that releases little race cars on the road. It's pretty fun. They are such cute cars!
My parents got us some fun things. Brett got an Amazon gift card, I got a funny jello book - my mom realized I wasn't old enough back in her jello making days. Now she sits on the phone with me teaching me Jello mold recipies. And our favorite gift we have wanted for years... new knifes! Such a dream! Cutting into tomatoes and bread without smashing them is awesome! And I can finally cut my own Watermelon! All these years I thought I just couldn't cut one. Turns out, you need a good knife!
I've only sliced my finger once, so that's pretty successful!
We also were told about an amazing present... Rachel is having a baby!!! We couldn't be more excited for her. It's exciting to see another bundle of joy come into the family. It's been so long since a new baby has been born. She is due July 18th 2012.
In the next few days, Daxton started feeling better and loved his pop up tent, tunnel, and car. He took his toys with him into his fort.
He loved having visitors stuff themselves inside his tent with him. It was a tight squeeze, but it was fun to see him get so excited!!
It's been an amazing year. Full of ups and downs. We feel truly blessed and are grateful for our family and the gospel in our life. We are ready for next years adventures... whatever they may bring!
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