Christmas!

What a neat holiday it was in so many ways! We had the joy of having Chad's mom and dad come and spend the holidays with us. Even though the mean weather stole them from us a day early, and we all ended up with nasty bronchitis... it was such a fun week!

I was so grateful they came when they did! We really hadn't had much snow up to that point and I feel like once they got here it didn't stop snowing! I was grateful for the white Christmas and the cozy fireplace! And all the Christmas blankets that kept arriving! LOL

My kids absolutely LOVE playing with their grandpa! He's a good one to get down on the floor with them and just play rough and get their energy out. They may be girls but they play rough and tumble with the best of them. And oh the noise! Hopefully Grandpa has recovered some of his hearing after spending the week at our house!

They came bearing loads of gifts... even for Atlas! They are headed to Nauvoo in February to start a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a result they are going through all their stuff and trying to minimize what they store. They came with so many bins and boxes of PJs, crafts, art supplies, books, and even treats! My kids were saucer eyed! I may have been a bit so myself! LOL My craft room got an overhaul and restock all in one fell swoop. It was awesome. I am so grateful and my kids have been capitalizing on the restock to boot.

Here McKinley is sporting some new jammies from Grandma Tina!

Snow! We have so much more now as it has continued to storm. In fact, when they left the Monday after Christmas, it started snowing and hasn't stopped! My parents were visiting my brother in Lewiston for Christmas and couldn't make it south. So they went west and ended up stuck for another week and a half at my other brother's house in Richland. 

We continued with our Christmas Eve jammie tradition. The kids have all wanted sweatpants so we took advantage and knocked 2 birds with one stone. I think they were a hit!

Christmas morning was so great. The kids let us sleep until 7. Well actually, I told the younger ones that there had to be a 7 on the clock in a certain position before they could come out. Surprisingly, it was Ms Lilia knocking down at our door at the stroke of 7. She was so antsy! She held out very patiently for another 30 minutes before I finally told her that she could go wake her sisters up. She was out of my room like a bullet.

The girls all had this nice surprise waiting under the tree for them! What fun! Grandma Tina sewed them all nightgowns and they LOVE them!

The girls bought each other gifts and we started with those. Jaedyn got Ebony a scooter, Ebony got Lilia a pair of sweat pants and a fuzzy jacket, Lilia got McKinley a lego set, and McKinley got Jaedyn a pair of awesome slippers. The girls get so excited to give and get the presents from each other. It is one of my favorites to watch. And because I'm selfish and like to soak it all in, we have each child take turns opening gifts. They actually do really well and are very patient and helpful handing out gifts. 

The big presents from mom and dad were: a teal cloak for Jaedyn which practically put her in raptures, a kindle reader for Lilia (she has read 6 middle school level books in it in the week since Christmas... I have to figure out ebook checkouts from the library fast cuz there's no way I can afford her habit! LOL), a handheld gaming device for Ebony, and a truck toyset for McKinley.

Chad made me a levi quilt for Christmas. That is deserving of its own post at a later date. And I put together a display for his office at work... and spent a few hours organizing his office. Only cuz he asked me to. LOL. I actually do love to organize stuff but I don't like to push it on other people. When he asked for my help I was more than happy to say yes! I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into...

Cutest cocoa bombs on the planet! G-ma Tina had these kids busy constantly with one craft or another. (She even went out and bought stuff for Jaedyn to make a treat when she heard about Jaedyn's New Year's party. She is an incredibly thoughtful person and my children adore her!)

And the cocoa bombs don't just look good! They tasted amazing!