Christmas morning

Finally, Sam woke us up around 6:30.

I went for the camera and started taking pictures. I noticed Nathan was eating a cookie. I couldn't figure out where he had found it, but I took it away, cleaned him up, and watched the kids open presents.

The next thing I know, I look down and Nathan is eating another cookie. I could not figure out where it came from, but he was really enjoying it. I let him eat it until Jeremy found finger prints and crumbs. Once again, I cleaned him up.

Finally, he led me to his stash. Santa had taken a few bites of the cookies, but never finished them. Nate had no interest in the presents, he just wanted cookies. It was Christmas -I just made him finish it in his high chair so his daddy would relax. (Below is Nate with the funny monkey Santa brought him).

Olivia asked Santa for a Bella Dancerella Cheerleader set so she could be a real cheerleader.

Santa brought Sam a construction guy suit and a metal detector.

Christmas was 55 degrees. We went to the park where Sam found two bottle caps and some treasures.

Christmas Eve - Later that night

While the missionaries were over, we watched a nice little Christmas movie and somehow, Olivia fell asleep during the movie. One kid out - it seemed too good to be true. She is usually the hardest one to get to sleep. Nate went down with out a problem too. Sam helped me lay out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. He was so excited, but went to bed well. He actually fell asleep after only a half an hour. Jer & I were thrilled, we thought Santa was going to come a little early this year, but a half an hour after Sam fell asleep, he heard Santa's bells. Of course he couldn't go back to sleep after that. Finally around eleven, I had Sam take a hot bath, hoping it would help him go back to sleep and keep him busy long enough for me to get some work done. It worked, but I'm pretty sure he almost caught Santa making a delivery - it was close. We told Sam that Santa couldn't come until everyone was asleep. He decided to sleep in our room because he still couldn't sleep. I was asleep by midnight, Sam was still awake, watching us sleep and waiting for Santa. I know because he woke me up three more times that night. I didn't mind, I remember getting that excited when I was little.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we spent the whole day in the kitchen. We started by making cookies for Santa. Then that evening we had the missionaries, Elder Lusk and Elder Schweikart over for pizza. Elder Lusk brought the kids a gingerbread house kit and had lots of fun putting it together.

Christmas Parade

Saturday morning, our little town had a Christmas parade. It was so much fun! It was a freezing cold morning of 29 degrees, so we bundled the kids up warm and walked up the street to watch the parade. I pulled out my camera only to find that my battery was dead, so I don't have any pictures. The parade started with a mile long entourage of fire trucks, lights, sirens and all. Yes, it is comforting to know that our county fire department is so well stocked. Sam went crazy, he loves the firemen. The fire trucks were followed by a mile worth of tractors, including the biggest tractor I have ever seen. Yes, once again, Sam went crazy. The parade included Mary and Joseph with a donkey, as well as a nativity scene. It was nice to see the important stuff included too. The kids thought the best part was the candy. Every float had candy, it was like Halloween all over again.

After the parade, we headed over to the county library to see Santa. We received a nice Polaroid snapshot. (Nathan was home sleeping)

Aren't kids supposed to look happy when they meet Santa? Sam was concerned about the authenticity of this particular Santa. Earlier Santa appeared in the parade, but the kids were not impressed. Olivia informed me that the parade Santa was not the real Santa because he did not have a long enough beard. Sam didn't think the real Santa was going to be at the library either, so we warned him to be careful, otherwise he might be disappointed Christmas morning. After we finally met Santa, we never finished our discussion as to whether this was the real Santa or not. I didn't want to go anywhere near that conversation again, but I think their expressions say it all.