Christmas!

Christmas morning came to our home at 6:00 a.m.  I was thankful this year it wasn't earlier.  This is the first time ever since having kids that I haven't woken up before them!  I must have been tired after all those cheesy Christmas movies Chant and I watched after putting them to bed on Christmas Eve.  Per tradition we made them wait till we were all ready and went out together.  Santa remembered to bring a box of cereal to each of the kids.  Sweet!  Breakfast was done!

I've never met another kid who gets so excited about Chex before.

Santa brought each kid a search-a-word book.  He was hoping they would use them in church for a quiet activity :)

Brinnley received a box of all things sewing.  It has scissors, needles, thread.  You name it, she got it.  Now she is all set.

Ainsley got a ream of paper and gel pens.  She should be set for a while.

Santa brought Porter a CD player (which worked for a day and then decided it was done.  But Santa brought a replacement a few days later.)

Chant made fun of me for this one, but Porter constantly complains that the girls have a real laundry basket and he has to use a box from the move.  So I figured for 98 cents we could make the boy happy.  And he was!

His awesome new coat from Gran.

Jen made each of the kids a book with a hidden compartment inside.  She did it with old books, so they are super cool looking.  The kids love them! In each book was their own key to adventure.  Love how creative she is!  

Jack and Vic sent some new friends that moved into the kids' beds that night and haven't left since.

Ainsley's big present was an art kit.  It has everything from stamps, ink pads, different shaped scissors, to paper design cutters and different patterns and shapes of little decorative papers.  

And Brinnley hit the sewing jackpot.  She got a sewing machine!  Can you see the "YES!" she's doing with her hand?  Yeah, she was pretty excited!

The Saturday before Christmas I went with the youth to the temple and was gone for the entire day.  Chant took the kids downtown and they wandered through the antique stores.  She found this box at one of them and Chant said she was completely in love with it.  She stared at it and lovingly stroked it and when it was time to leave without it, she was very somber.  Normally Ainsley does loud when she's angry, so this was a new reaction.  Jen sent some money to buy her a gift and Chant knew exactly what to get.  When she opened the shoe box and saw her wooden box inside, she smiled big and said, "It's my box!"  We had to go rearrange her dresser so this new box held a prime spot front and center.

Brinnley spent the afternoon sewing, and Ainsley spent the afternoon putting together bracelets.  One of the sets of beads came with paint so she could paint the beads different colors.  Pretty cool.

And Porter spent the afternoon jamming to his new tunes and playing cop.

Brinnley sewed a shirt for herself and her doll.  She learned that you have to use specific fabrics for certain things.  But I am so proud of her!  She did an awesome job.

Around 4 we had two couples from the ward, the Honors and the Mitchells, come over for dinner.  Again we carried out of tradition of shrimp and twice baked potatoes.  Weird?  Maybe, but it wouldn't be Christmas without those two food items.

One of the couples brought chimes and we played Christmas carols on the chimes for about an hour.  That was so fun!  The kids loved it!  That is the Mitchell's Christmas tradition, so again, I am glad they shared it with us.

It was a wonderful day!  We got to Skype with family and talk on the phone.  Even though we were far away, we felt their love.  It was a beautiful day!