Christmas Morning

I was so enjoying the moments of them opening their presents, I didn't take too many pictures from the rest of the morning, but snapped a few good ones! So here they are for the memory books!

We stuck with the Want, Need, Wear, Read for gifts, plus a few tiny extras! 

Grant had Cuddles stocking filled since we hung them up, so the very first thing he did was let Cuddles open his stocking. Oh, what Cuddles surprised- it was his favorite snack, Teddy Grahams.

 This year, I left all the presents under the tree. I have never done this before. I typically always keep them hidden in my closet and pull them out after they go to bed Christmas Eve- and they always seem surprised when they see presents for them in the morning. But this year, I left them under the tree most of the season and then they sorted them out Christmas morning. They liked "playing Santa."

 They got a Claw Candy Machine! Oh the squeals of excitement (and the horrendous music it plays!)!!

 Daddy got them each their first own tool box with their first set of real tools. They were very happy! There is a Wyatt in the middle of that hug!

 They each got gifts for each other too. Grant got Wyatt a table top air hockey set and a Pokemon poster. Wyatt got Grant a blue lava lamp! Brother hugs!!!

 And later in the day, we went outside and saw that Santa did indeed use the runway! Look at those track marks! SO COOL!

The rest of the day was spent with Mimi and PawPaw and the VanAllen family. Lots of gifts (a very merry Pokemon Christmas!), snacks, and family fun!

This was the only picture we took that day, thanks to Sara! We just had too much fun living in the moment! It was a very Merry Christmas!!!

Santa Came! Santa Came!

Santa came! Santa came! The boys woke up right at 7 and I could hear their little chitter chatter from the other side of the wall! I went into their room and told them I was going to get set up downstairs and they could come down as soon as I called them! Look at these excited faces at the top of the stairs!

 I was so happy I let Santa in on the secret that I was actually OK with them getting an Xbox, even though I had already told the boys they couldn't ask for one. Typically, Santa doesn't bring such large (expensive) gifts, so I knew this was going to be a big surprise!! As they came downstairs and turned the corner, there faces were SHOCKED!!!! Wyatt ran and slid on his knees and said, "AN XBOX!!!!!!!" Grant, still in shock, walked a few feet behind him and said, "Oh, What the HECK???" They were totally floored!

 Then Wyatt noticed he also had received his own Kindle Fire (he calls it his iPad because all tablets are the same to him). He was practically hyperventilating, he was so excited. He said, "I got my iPad breath breath breath, two Xbox controllers, breath breath breath, Oh My!!! This is the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" To which Grant echoed, "OH MY!!!!!!"

 Once they finally composed themselves, they noticed that Santa and Shed and written them letters. Grant read them aloud to us. In his letter, Shed said he would come on November 30 next year, thanks to Grant's request!

 These smiles are just priceless!!!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas to everyone! 

Preparing for Santa!

Oh the excitement we feel on Christmas Eve! The anticipation is almost too much!! We had a super busy day with church and Christmas Eve celebration at the VanAllen's. We came home, got our Christmas jammies on and got ready for Santa! We made our world famous chocolate chip cookies a few days prior (they are the ones Wyatt asks for throughout the year, saying, "You know, the ones Santa likes?"), had a fresh bag of carrots, and mini chocolate chips (for Shed). We even had chocolate milk! We couldn't leave them on the fireplace this year because of Millie, so we had to put them next to the fireplace, just hoping Santa wouldn't miss them!

 Then we headed out to sprinkle reindeer food. Levi thought it would be smart to sprinkle the reindeer food on the runway in hopes that Santa might actually land there! The reindeer could snack while Santa unpacked!

Then it was back inside to say goodbye to Shed. Oh how we will miss our little elf friend!!! Grant even wrote him a letter!

 Then Levi read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

 And while the boys slept, Shed took a little video and picture before he hitched a ride with Santa! Such a surprise!

And now we sleep, dreaming of the exciting morning to come.......

Advent Excitement

Our Decembers are always filled with lots of festive fun! Starting December 1, we get to open our Advent Pocket each morning. Every year I change things up a bit and the boys never know what our pockets will bring. This year, there was some sort of trinket for each boy, a prayer card, and an activity card. The first thing they'd do each morning is come downstairs, find Shed, and then head to their pockets! They couldn't wait to see what was inside! I just love this little tradition of ours! It makes the holiday season so exciting and filled with so much fun!

Lots of fun activities! We played Christmas Charades, Christmas Would You Rather?, Christmas scavenger hunts. We did art projects and baked cookies. We build Christmas Lego creations and solved Christmas puzzles. On each prayer card, there was a key word that would help them guess what their special trinket for the day was. They just love tiny treasures, so shopping for pocket fillers is always fun! Tiny toys, tiny tape measures, wash clothes, erasers. You name it- if it was tiny and fit in the pocket, I found it!!! 

Some other activities on our cards were:

Angel crafts

 Candy Cane Science projects

 Peppermint Playdoh

 Stained-glass(ish) painting project!

 Festive breakfast! (These were supposed to look like Christmas trees...supposed to!)

 Candlelight dinner in our Christmas jammies!

 Make photo ornaments for grandmas!

 Journey to Judea! This event was so neat. One of the local churches puts it on. Its a living Bible walk where you start with the story of Creation and walks you through to the Resurrection. It was an hour long, walk through display and it was just so amazing! The boys hung on every word said. And they were so excited that they even knew most of the Bible stories that were referenced. Levi was in Korea at the time for the reserves, so we can't wait to bring him with us next year. 

Oh what a wonderful Advent season we had as we awaited for the big celebration of Jesus' birth!

Grant's Christmas Part

A few months before Christmas, Grant was asked to recite some of the scripture for our Christmas Eve service at church. He jumped at the chance because he LOVES being involved at church. He always says he's "famous" around there. Kind of true :-) He loves to have his presence noticed! So a few days before Christmas Eve, we were up at church doing run throughs and it was just so awesome seeing my little guy up there, knowing God was using him to spread his Word. Nothing more awesome than that!

Then on Christmas Eve, he got all dressed up and knew his lines down pat. 

 The big performance! He did so wonderful, I got teary listening to his little voice spread such amazing truth!! His lines were John 1:1-5, 9-13. My favorite part: But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.  Chills!

 And a cute story- this kid had ZERO dress clothes. Like nothing. So a few days before, I took him to Target to get an outfit. While they had less than stellar clothing choices, he fell in love with this pair of shoes, which was so shocking. So we bought the shoes and knew we had to match his outfit to the shoes. When we took our surprise trip to the Mall for a BAB surprise, we swung by Children's Place where he picked out his ENTIRE outfit. We walk into the store and he says to me, "I want to wear a tie. And a belt." I looked at him like he had 5 heads. Who is this kid?!? But gosh darn it, did he make that outfit look good! He's growing up people, growing up!

Shed's Visits

Shed arrived each and every morning! Some days he was easy to find and some days he hid pretty well. Sometimes he had his special bag front and center, and sometimes he sent us on a scavenger hunt for it. Whatever he did, he brought us such joy and smiles throughout the Christmas season!

Oh, and as far as the contents of his bag every day- our final product was a lego Nativity scene!! On Christmas Eve, he left our final piece of Baby Jesus! 

December Cuteness!

Just some fun Christmasy things I just had to capture!

Christmas tree cuties

 Christmas show watching in Millie's kennel??

 Sleepy Santa Baby

 Some of our Christmas movie collection!

 Santa Boy starting Deck the Halls, We're Off the Walls!

 Christmas Legos while wearing Christmas jammies!

 Grant drew this reindeer at school, but he left it under the tree for Shed. I told Shed I wanted it, so he left it under the tree and wrote Grant a note back! Yay- I get to keep it!!!

 My Christmas shelves in the living room!

 Mom, Sara, and I painted these adorable snowmen!!

 Sleepy guy cuddled with his snowman blanket after a sleepover at Mason and Luke's.

 Pre-Christmas trip to BAB. Wyatt got Dasher the reindeer, and Grant got Pikachu.