Christmas Morning

This was the sight that awaited us on Christmas morning. Six inches of beautiful, fluffy white snow. It was gorgeous and made for the perfect Christmas morning atmosphere.

The older boys were excited to open presents, but Hyrum had no idea what was going on and slept in. Finally, around 7:30, the boys were going crazy, so we woke Hyrum up. He was pretty groggy for the first 10 minutes, but then got into the excitement of presents.

We left the Santa gifts on some new bookcases for the boys. Mom H. was getting rid of them, so I took them and redid them by adding some fabric to the back. They look great in the boys' room and they really love them! I have funny boys who are obsessed with reading, and their books are some of their most prized possessions. Having a place to put their books was an awesome surprise. They decorated the bookcases with their most special treasures, and then stacked all of their books neatly. Haha... who knew that the bookcases would be such a huge hit!

Everyone opened their Santa gifts first, and then we took turns opening the rest of the presents. We try not to go too overboard for Christmas, so each person just had a few special presents. As the kids are getting older, it is getting harder to stay in budget for Christmas. They seem to want much more expensive things. I had to laugh at Christian's Christmas list (which he arranged by price, by the way :) He is such a nerd, but we love him!

Diagon Alley Retired Lego Set $324

Robioc coding Robot $270

BB8 Coding Robot $200

Dash Robot $150

Dot Robot $50

Microscope $50

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Retired Lego Guy $20

White cloak and nine rolls of tape $17

Pokemon EX pack $10

Pokemon Booster Pack $5

Any amount of money

Needless to say, he did not get the majority of the stuff on his wishlist, but he seemed completely satisfied with what he did get. We heard a saying a few years ago about what kinds of presents to get your kids, and we try to stick to it: "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." It pretty much covers all of the bases and helps us focus in on a few things that they will actually use and enjoy. Sometimes, I think less is more. 

Christian has been asking for a microscope for a long time, so he was thrilled to finally get one of his own. Andrew got a new board game to play called Labyrinth.

 And Hyrum got some "Cars" and Lightning McQueen things since he is pretty obsessed with those right now. He was especially excited about this new sticker book.

Christian and Andrew also got a set of Harry Potter ties to share. There is one for each house (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff). I ordered them off of Ebay from somewhere in China. I didn't know what kind of quality they would be or if they would even get here. They were only $1.96 each and no shipping, so I thought it was worth the risk. They are actually great! They seem like they are made from good material, and they are a good size for the kids. It is hard to find ties that fit them, so I was really happy that it worked out.

After we finished opening presents, we had to shovel the driveway so we could get the car out to go to Grandma's. The snow was surprisingly deep, and it took a while for the boys to get us all dug out. We then drove (very carefully) to Grandma and Grandpas for Christmas breakfast. The roads were quite slick, but we made it safely. Awaiting us were Jonathon's delicious frittatas and Mom's heavenly cinnamon rolls. Yum!

After breakfast, we exchanged gifts with the family and then went on our traditional treasure hunt to find the gifts from Mom and Dad. Dad H. is in charge of the treasure hunt and puts together clues that lead to the last gift. In recent years, he has started to have the adult kids help to come up with clues. Everyone made up a clue for the younger kids and then one for the grown ups. It is always fun trying to solve the riddles. Here is an example of the one I wrote for the kids this year:

Made to alert you to danger;

Meant to wake you from sleep.

Sometimes the grandkids like to push it 

To hear a beep, beep, beep.

The clue for this one was found behind the carbon monoxide detector in the hall. The kids (Hyrum especially) like to push the button to hear it beep, so they figured it out pretty quickly. At the end of the kid's treasure hunt were awesome presents for each of them; gorgeous princess dresses for the girls, Lego Star Wars book and shirts for the older boys, and a new train set for the three little boys. Grandma really won Christmas! I have never seen so many happy kids. Every one of them was giddy with excitement for their gift.

Finding clues from the treasure hunt

 They found the presents!

 New Star Wars shirts

The adult treasure hunt led us to Star Wars movie tickets for all of Jonathon's siblings and spouses. Mom and Dad arranged a time for all of us to go together to a 3D showing of the new "Force Awakens" movie and get to sit in the D seats. I had never experienced the seats before, but they were pretty awesome. They moved around, tilted, and shook according to the action that was happening on the screen. It was basically a 4D movie. Star Wars was the perfect movie to sit in them because there was a lot of action and the movements fit well with the movie, so it felt completely immersive. I really loved the movie. I am not an diehard Star Wars fan, but I have seen them, and I was excited to see the new one. I felt like this movie played so well on what fans liked about the originals. When Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Chewbacca showed up, I couldn't help but grin and cheer. I thought Harrison Ford totally stole the show. He was funny and sentimental and his character helped bridge the gap from the originals to all the new characters and actors. The movie was very similar in plot to the others, but I didn't care. I was entertained, and had such a great time with everyone. What a wonderful Christmas! I am so thankful for a wonderful family to spend such a special day with. Mostly, I am thankful for the birth of our Savior, His perfect life on the Earth, and His sacrifice for me and my family. Merry Christmas!