Christmas 2011

Like most years in the past, we went to Moab for Christmas this year. We both had a good chunk of time off work, so we headed down Thursday morning and came back Monday. As we drove to Moab, Aiden was complaining of a sore throat (he actually says his neck hurts when his throat is sore. I think it's sweet.) and had a pretty bad cough and he was really hoarse. By the next day Capri and I were sick, and by the time we drove back home, we were all sick and miserable. So it wasn't the best Christmas ever. Not even close.

But it had it's fun moments, and things I want to remember. I didn't take a lot of photos, and I didn't get photos of everything I wand to remember, but this is the best I've got. Also, a disclaimer, my Christmas pictures are awful. I hate using my flash, which sometimes, you just need to use the flash. But I always think I can do it without, and then I regret it.

Anyway.

Christmas Eve we gathered the kids around the piano and sang Christmas songs. Kids came and went, and it was chaos at times, but it got us in the mood.

My mom handed out a present for each of the grand kids (all six grand kids were there).

They each got pajamas and a robot-hand-grabber-thing.

Even Capri got one!

After we got the kids to bed, we did our white elephant exchange. This is one of the best parts of Christmas. Every year is different, but the fun is fighting over the best of the gifts. We usually try to make (or find or buy) the best gift for the least amount of money. This year was kind of last minute, so we did a "anything goes" white elephant exchange. There were funny, random, and completely disgusting things. We played games like dominos and around the world ping pong, and winner got to open or steal a gift. It was so fun! The fun even made up for the fact that I ended up with a box of candy boogers.

After the games, we played Santa and got things ready for morning.

(I know, bad picture!) Aiden was so excited to find all of the things he wanted under the tree. He had asked Santa for a Cars2 track, a camera, and a treasure chest. He's pretty easy :)

Capri got a little play kitchen that she loves. I knew she would love it, because she's played with them before. She loves to get the pots and pans out and put them back. Just like she does in the real kitchen :) 

Aiden and his track. He had so much fun, and played with it every chance he got, even though it was a frantic day of going from house to house to house to church and back to more houses.

She was such a happy girl! She ran around all morning with a spoon in her hand.



After the kids saw what Santa brought, we hurried over to Grandma G.'s house to open/give gifts. Aiden got all he's ever wanted pus some. He's obsessed with angry birds lately, so he got a bunch of angry birds stuff.

Which included the cutest hat ever!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas this year, was that Aiden was old enough to pick out gifts for everyone. I took him one night to the dollar store and I let him pick something out for everyone. I figured he would pick out a piggy bank for everyone, cause that's what he always gets, for everyone. But this time, he had to pick out something specific for each individual person. It was so much fun. I wanted to get a picture of everyone with their gift from Aiden, but nobody wanted their picture taken in their jammies and bed hair. So... Grandma G. got a picture of Jessie from Toy Story, that Aiden colored for her. Grandpa G. got a laser light that projected an image of a smiley face. Garrett got a suncatcher picture with a dolphin on it. Aiden painted it for him :) Karrina got a little wooden tulip that had a frame with a picture of Aiden in it. He painted that too. He got Kenny a piggy bank that he painted silver. He got Grandma C. a minnie mouse puzzle, and Grandpa C. got a wooden toy/game/brain teaser puzzle. And my favorite, G-ma got a ten pack of mardi-gras beads. When she opened it, he took posession of all the red ones because they are the color of lava. Kenny took Aiden out seperately to get my gift, and he got me a little treasure box. That he has promised he will paint silver :)

Capri got a bunch of stuff too, though she wasn't so much into opening presents. If we started a tear for her, she would finish it off. That was the extent of it.

Aiden and Kenny went to church, but I stayed home with Capri because she wasn't feeling well. And that was pretty much our day.

It was a hard day because everyone was miserable, but we tried to keep Aiden focused on the reason we celebrate Christmas. We talked a lot about the birth of Christ throughout the month of December, and read about it in the scriptures. We, as a family, are grateful for the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are thankful for the example he set for us, and for the sacrifice he made on our behalf. Merry Christmas to everyone (even though it's over...), thank goodness we now have a whole year to prepare for th next one!