Christmas Present

This was Santa's view of our house when he came quietly in the night on Christmas Eve. Luckily he came early in the night, because Bryce and Adam were up before the sun to celebrate the joy of Christmas.


Adam only had one thing on his Christmas list, and Santa came through. He has had lots of fun playing all the games that come with the balance board for Wii.

Our teenager was pretty excited for Christmas too. This year it was fun to see both Bryce and Adam be almost as interested in what they were giving as in what they were receiving.

Adam with a smile on his face early in the morning - only on Christmas!

If you have read the previous postings, you will remember at Morgan's shower everyone was in love with a stuffed purple bird that Gretchen gave Morgan. Well, Bryce was obsessed with the feathered fellow and pestered Mom to find out where Gretchen got it. Michelle and Adam conspired that they would find out where to buy it and Adam could get it for Bryce for Christmas.

Michelle emailed Gretchen and found out she had purchased it at Kohls over a year ago, but she had bought two at the time - would we like the second one? Oh boy, would we! So purple bird came incognito to our house at Thanksgiving. When Bryce continued to ask about him, we told him the sad tale that Gretchen had bought the dear bird a year ago. There was no chance they still had any in stock. Bryce moped around for a while, but soon only mentioned purple bird occasionally.

When Adam wrapped his present (in a automotive tarp box) Bryce was beside himself to guess what could be in the box. Adam tortured him by giving no clues, just saying he would never guess what it was. So on Christmas morning it was the first present Bryce opened. His face says it all. Adam loved giving a gift that was so well received.

Boyd and Lindsay joined us for Christmas. Jamie and Morgan were grounded in Chicago by a cautious obstetrician since Morgan is in her third trimester (due January 22). Luna loves when Boyd comes to visit. She gives the rest of us the cold shoulder and hangs out with Boyd at every opportunity - even Christmas morning.

Lindsay is all set to make enchilada sauce on her own now - she has her own enormous stock pot a.k.a. an enchilada pot. Note Lindsay's new hair color. She told us she was trying to fill in for Morgan and herself by going brunette.

Dan enjoyed watching everyone open their gifts, and he even had a few surprises in his pile of presents.

This is such a cute shot of Adam, it just had to be included for a smile. Bryce gave him a gallon jar of Cheetos (his favorite). Hard to believe, but it only took two days for them to be consumed. He had a little help, but was the principle eater.

We kept Luna up late, and then woke her up early on Christmas morning. She was wiped out. But she did enjoy her new stuffed animal and treats later. Isn't she cute in her sweater?

After presents it was on to breakfast of killer rolls, egg casserole, bacon and fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges in our stockings (and some from our orange trees). Yum!

After breakfast we all got cleaned up and dressed. Lindsay and Boyd gave Adam and Bryce UofA T-shirts, which they are displaying in our Christmas photo.

It was a great Christmas - full of family, good food and good memories as we celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.