Christmas 2011

Early Christmas morning everyone was up - except Elliot.  But we decided if Elliot was going to make it through the day in a merry mood, he needed a little extra rest. 

So we started opening our presents - and there was quite a pile - since we had a lot to fit in before church at 10:30.

Santa filled our stockings and left them by the chimney with care.

Luna was the first to find her present!

It looks like Bryce had a lot of Christmas spirit when he was wrapping Michelle's present.

Finally Elliot heard all the commotion and woke up.  He wasn't too sure how the train set appeared on the living room table.  He slowly warmed up to the idea and had fun with the train.  He especially enjoyed the engine that ran on batteries.

It was an all Lego Christmas for Adam - and he loved it.

Dan gave Michelle a new handrail for the backyard.  This is a representation of the handrail that
Dan, Bryce and Adam made out of PVC pipe and spray painted.  Pretty clever.

Adam (with help from Michelle) made an ABC book for Elliot.  It is filled with family pictures representing the letters of the alphabet.  A is for Adam, B is for Bryce......T is for trumpet or trombone - you get the idea.  Adam was almost as excited about giving Elliot his book as he was to open his own presents.

If you look closely at the book, you can see that E is for Elliot, and there is a picture of Elliot.

Bryce wanted a long board for Christmas.  He was very particular about all the parts that went into it, so it was no surprise to him.  Each year Michelle secretly assigns everyone a reindeer name and uses those names on the packages so no one can tell which packages are theirs.  So if Bryce's reindeer name had appeared on the long board present (which was obvious due to its size) everyone would have known which reindeer Bryce was this year.

So this is what appeared on the tag on his present: 
TO:  He who shall not be named 
FROM:  Sneaky Santa. 
It worked.  No one figured out all the reindeer name assignments correctly.

Here is Bryce with his new long board.  And finally the sun is up.

Adam's scout leader, Wynn Caffall, gave each of his scouts a pocket knife.  Here is Adam proudly displaying his knife.

Jamie and Elliot enjoyed the popcorn from Jamie's stocking, and the cars from Elliot's stocking.

Elliot received a VeggieTale movie that has our favorite VeggieTale song:  The Sad Cebu!  So we had to watch it before heading off to church.

Going to church on Christmas really made the day special.  It brought the true reason we celebrate Christmas to the forefront.  What a great way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

In case you wondered if Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer went back to the north pole - no - he stayed at our house!  Boyd is such a good sport.

After church it was time to pack the "teenagers" up for their trip to Tucson.  Elliot wasn't real excited to pack his new train away.  But when he realized it was coming with him in the car, he was okay with the idea.

Elliot - looking cute in his Christmas bow - and ready for a nap.

And we heard them proclaim as they rode out of sight - MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!! And to all a good night.

The house was very quiet after everyone left.  But then the big boy toys came out.  Here is Adam with his land rover made with electric circuits.

And then Adam worked on his new Lego house until he finished it.  What a great Christmas!  It was fun to have everyone home for the holiday.  It only happens once every four years, so we relish it when it happens!

Merry Christmas!