The cookies were gone, the carrots eaten and...

...all other evidence that Santa made it to our house is shown below:



Everything all laid out for the kids to find!

There's just not much better than Christmas morning with children!  Although I thought it was funny this Christmas that as I was getting ready early Christmas morning, in came Vanna asking if she could take a shower.  I thought to myself, "well, maybe Cash will be up by the time she gets out," so I threw her in the shower but I couldn't resist asking her, while she was washing her hair, if she remembered what today was.  Suddenly realization hit her, her face brightened and a huge smile spread acrossed it as she said with an audible gasp, "it's Christmas!" with squeals to follow.  As soon as she got out, she got dressed in a flash and was on a mission to wake everyone else in the house up!  And then there was magic!

 

We put Cash to work right away - reading the names on each present so they could be divided into our own individual piles - then we took turns opening presents.

The kids loved heping Rosie open her presents!  She eventually got the hang of it and especially loved pulling tissue paper out of bags all by herself!

Vanna's favorite present was her new baby doll. She kept telling everyone that, "I gotted a baby that really goes potty!" Yes, when you feed the baby, it actually goes potty and then she gets to change it's diapers. This motherly little girl couldn't be happier - Santa sure seems to know our kids and their likes (on an almost personal level :)!  



 

 

MMM - so soft!

Vanna wanted a dolphin for Christmas but because we told her it wouldn't be happy in our home without the space and water it needed, she was excited enough with her movie Dolphin Tale :). Vanna also got a Llama Llama book (love those), cowgirl boots, a new outfit and some new jeans for our growing girl, a jewelry box and of course her stocking stuffers of smelly lotions, treats, etc. She also got Frontier Logs that she can now get to be creative with (from Grandma and Grandpa Bazil) and a new, soft blanket made by Grandma Mendenhall to hopefully replace her longtime favorite baby blanket that she has always toted around (after nearly five years the thing almost looks more like a rag!). Thank you so much for your gifts Grandmas and Grandpas! 

 

Do you see what's attached to Cash's wrist and what practically didn't come off for several days following Christmas!?  We figured we'd let him ejoy his new found passion for the Wii and after a couple days, start setting some limits!

 

 

Cash got the movie The Avengers along with some snowpants, a clock (that shines stars on the ceiling, plays music, has an alarm, etc.) to help him learn how to tell time, and a couple new outfits including cowboy boots.  See, Ty got some cowboy boots for his birthday back in October and the kids thought they were pretty slick and even had their own pairs picked out while we were there at the store.  I wasn't about to pay as much as those things cost though just for kicks so I told them that maybe they could get some for Christmas - so they each got some boots.  Cash got some wranglers and a  snap button cowboy shirt to finish off the look too.  He's so funny with his, "Yes, Mam, " "Howdy Partner" and the like.  He even puts on quite a line dancing routine for you too - he's got playing the part of a cowboy down!  Cash also got some Frontier Logs so he can build a 'bigger, cooler house' than his sister and a big fisherman's truck that pulls a boat behind it (reminds us of Grandpa!) from his Grandmas and Grandpas - thank you so much!
 

And together, Santa got the kids a Wii.  Cash has asked for a Nintendo for two years now and I feared he'd be disappointed that he didn't get one (I'm just not ready for him to have one of those yet!) but when he saw the Wii he said, "This is even better than a Nintendo!"  Relief washed over me and I was so glad I didn't have to give him the speech I had all prepared in my head about being grateful for what you got, etc. etc. :)

This, of course, was Rosie's first Christmas and she had such a ball!  It was fun to see the kids helping her open her gifts and to watch her pull the tissue paper out of bags.  She had a perma-smile on her face and was so happy with everything (all the mess Christmas morning brings, tearing paper, playing with toys, all the excitement). 

Just look at that wild hair! 

Her daddy got her a stuffed Panda that she just couldn't get enough of.  She also got a push-along toy that helps her walk all over the place and better keep her balance, as well as a couple outfits, including one adorable pink leopard print dress from Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall, some classic Dr. Suess books and some toys including the classic See 'n Say farm animal wheel and a baby doll and a pull shapes toy from Grandma and Grandpa Bazil (she totes that baby everywhere!:).

 

 

Showing off her new outfit!

Little girl wouldn't look at me to get a picture of her with all she made off with for Christmas. :)

I got spoiled this year (which seems to be the case year after year...how do I get so lucky?)!  Ty got me a CD and a carpet shampooer.  After years of renting them from the store, I decided it would be a good investment just to own one ourselves.  And I thought it would be so nice for little messes that inevitably come up with kids around (literally 'come up' - get it? - yuck, I know).  Ty's parents also bought us a pressure cooker which I'm so excited about!  Each year I get excited to learn more and try more and do more canning and now I can do my beloved green beans, among other things - so thank you so much!  The rest of the family will surely thank you too when they're tasting all the yummy things I can do now with my pressure cooker!  My dad and Jannie got the whole family some games which we are anxious to get out and try and my mom and Tab gave us some new bedding and more pieces to my Willow Tree nativity set that I love!  I also had thoughtful friends who got me warm fuzzy socks, a fleece blanket, and a new 'chick flick' book - oh yeah, and I got myself some Thirty-One bags!

 

 

Ty stands on his feet ALL day at work and often when he gets home his feet will ache and so I got him a foot massager/vibrater - hopefully that will help.  As you can see, he also got lots of treats and what he really wanted this year was a new suit.  So we went shopping and instead of one, he ended up with two.  He hadn't had a new suit since his mission - so it was long overdue that he update his wardrobe.  One suit was a charcoal color and another was a brown sharkskin color.  Since he didnt' have shoes that went well with his new brown suit, the spoiled man got new shoes and a couple ties to go with them as well.  Doesn't he look sharp!?  My husband looks pretty good all cleaned up (and any other time of course:)!

We had Christmas visitors this year as well and loved it!!!  Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall came up Christmas evening (missing bad roads just barely) to be with us for a few days.  So we got to exchange gifts with them and visit and play and just cherish the time we had together.  Ty and Tab even got a day of fishing in (isn't that crazy - in December!?:)  They got to share in our celebrations for Rosie's first birthday while they were here as well (upcoming post on that!)! We just always love their visits and were so glad they could share in our Christmas magic!

I LOVE this picture of the kids reading with their Grandparents!  They were telling the kids the story of the Christmas oranges - a touching story. 

 

Showing off his big cowboy muscles for Grandma and Grandpa!

 

 

And as if presents and Grandparents wasn't magical enough - we also got our first real snow on Christmas day!  The kids played in the new snow for a good long time the day after Christmas and their puppies loved running around with them.  I so enjoy a white Christmas, of course, for me, I prefer it quickly go away after the holidays and warm up but it doesn't look like that's about to happen.

 

Obviously, it was a wonderful Christmas and we can't help but feel incredibly blessed. We truly are grateful for those blessings this tim eof year reminds us of and the beautiful thoughts and well wishes from friends and family whom we're also so grateful for as well!  I've decided December is my favorite month to get the mail - I love seeing all your updates and pictures, etc.  We hope your holiday was a wonderful one as well!

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Just wanted to also include these pictures from our ward Christmas party a week or so before Christmas.  The Primary kids performed a short but very sweet program.  Cash was a wise-man and Vanna was one of the shepherd's sheep.

 Of course Santa made an appearance at the party and each of the kids got to sit on his lap and ask for their favorite things.  When Cash first got on Santa's lap he gave him a big hug.  He's done this two years now and is the ONLY kid to do it.  I think it's just darling - he LOVES Santa! 

Rosie didn't know what to think about Santa.  She was pretty fascinated by his costume and kindof picked at white furrty part of it with her little fingers.  Although she didn't cry, after a minute or two  she started looking for Mama with a little nervous face - happy just long enough for a picture. :)

So...until next year (get it, it won't be until after the new year that I post again - haha, I'm so clever :)!