christmas day

I normally just get a picture of the kids on Christmas morning, but since my mom was standing there, she offered to take one of us all.  And I didn't buy new jammies this year since last year's still fit!

They tolerate all my picture taking, but they were definitely eager to get into the living room to see if Santa came!!

We went through our stockings, then moved on to the gifts under the tree. 

Brooke loved her new fleece, even thought it wasn't a surprise :) As she gets older, I like to ask her opinion about things a bit more. 

But I surprised her with the backpack and she was squealing with excitement. 

Papa is a big BYU fan, so he liked his new blanket.  It's a light, packable blanket, so I thought it might be nice to use in his chair at home. 

Brooke also loved her new footie pajamas.  She wore them until we went to church, then changed right back into them when we arrived back home. 

Colby was happy to finally get a BYU shirt!  He commented this fall that he was the only one in our family that didn't have a BYU shirt, so I couldn't let that be the case. I didn't get a picture of his new ball guns, but those were probably at the top of his favorite things :) He also really loved his new scooter, mountain bike, and Elephant and Piggie books. 

The kids were not thrilled with having to get ready for church on Christmas Day, but I actually didn't realize how much I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday. (That probably wouldn't have been the case if church was at 9, but since we don't meet until 12, it was perfect!!)

I asked a woman in our ward to snap a quick picture as we headed into the building, and I think I'll always cherish it.  This trip has been so precious so far, and I just adore my parents and my little family. 

I promised the kids that I wouldn't take any more picture when we got home, but I didn't make that same promise to my parents, haha.  I just wanted a few pictures with my special parents.

Dad thought he was so funny bugging his eyes, so I made sure not to delete it :)

Well, I guess I broke the promise to Kevin as well, but thankfully he didn't complain. 

We enjoyed some after-church sugar cookies, but Colby didn't want to eat his dinosaur and asked for a picture instead.  Four days later and he still hadn't eaten his dinosaur...

Brooke made Papa a special cookie :)

Brooke was eager to take her new scooter out for spin, and I wanted to try out the mountain bike Kevin gifted me.  It was supposed to be a surprise and was "hiding" in the garage under a tablecloth, but when I moved it to hide another gift, it toppled over and I had a sneak peak.  I knew it was a bike, but the goal was to be surprised on Christmas morning. 

As previously mentioned, Colby also received a new mountain bike since him and I were the only two without gears and he had outgrown his other bike. 

We ended the night with a FaceTime call to Grandma and Papa.  My kids definitely fight sometimes, but when I catch this cuteness, I am reminded of their sweet relationship!

I always arrange all their gifts the next morning to remember what they received for Christmas...

I wrapped up Brooke's Six Flags cup since her season pass was technically a Christmas gift :) We gave it to her early since Colby received his pass for his birthday, but we didn't want her to forget that it was also a Christmas gift. 

We try to be mindful and not over-buy gifts, so I think we did a good job at staying within our budget while still spoiling our kids with thoughtful gifts!