Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Day 2014

We had a great Christmas day this year, filled with some fun present opening, delicious food, and great company.  We hung a sheet up to cover the view of the living room from the boys upstairs, where our stairwell is so open.  The boys all lined up youngest to oldest on the stairs, and came in when they heard the Jim Reeves Christmas music playing. 

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The boys were especially excited to see Santa brought them a trampoline this year!  They also got a Creationary Lego game, a Perplexus Warp, Super Mario 3D world Wii game, and Despicable Me DVD.  One of their favorite stocking stuffers were the hex bugs with legs on the top and bottom so they can walk in a circle.

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We took a break after looking at what Santa had brought us to eat our traditional Christmas breakfast – croissants and hot chocolate.  We also talked about the true gifts of Christmas, reading about each one as we ate our breakfast. 

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After breakfast, the boys had fun opening their gifts from us and from Grandma and Grandpa Malan and Kelly.  Some favorites included their BYU hats, Landon’s new “gear” bike and basketball clothes, Davis’s laser tag guns, James’s Lego superheroes, and Asher’s monster truck and trike.

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Davis got some new boots for Christmas, and Asher wanted to wear those around most of the morning, as well as the new BYU hat.  Guess we should’ve got him one too!  He even wanted to leave the boots on while trying out his new trike.  His new trike was his definite favorite, and we couldn’t get him off it once we brought it in, even opening the rest of his gifts while sitting on it.  He loved the bell on it too.

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Kelly always gives the boys such fun gifts.  This year, he got them some straw glasses and a Spirograph set.  He found a ball and a fun stuffed dog for Asher.

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Grandma and Grandpa Malan gave the boys some minion pillows – Asher thought it was so fun to lie on!  The boys have slept on them every night since.  They also gave them a nice over-the-door basketball hoop (which I somehow don’t have a picture of).  It has already seen a lot of use at our house.  They gave Asher a fun quiet book too.  They made a neat frame for us with pictures of them at their engagement, fifteen years later, and now. 

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We had fun watching them open their gifts from us too.  They especially liked the book Shane made for them of our trip to Yellowstone this summer.

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The boys made each other a Lego guy a the Lego store, and they had fun giving each other their gifts.

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After lunch (and some fun with the straw glasses), the boys headed outside to try out their bikes and trikes.  Davis was excited because now he gets Landon’s old bike.  James really wanted to ride Davis’s old one, but his legs just aren’t quite long enough yet. 

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That afternoon, the trampoline assembly began.  We were lucky to have Kelly and Kent around to help make the work go quicker.  The boys could hardly wait to get on, and were on it until well after dark once we finished assembling it.  Asher already has another new word – trampoline. 

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Here they are with their gifts they next day:

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Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve/Birthday

I had a nice and relaxing birthday this year, even getting to sleep in while Shane made me some delicious crepes for breakfast.  The boys each drew me some cute cards, and I opened some gifts from friends and family.  The boys each chose a game to play, and there were prizes for the winners.  Davis chose to play a bean bag toss into various sized bowls, Landon chose catch the football in the beanbag, and James chose to play hide-and-seek. 

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Later that night, we began our Christmas Eve celebrations with our traditional ham and potato casserole dinner, with Shane’s layered red and green Jell-o and homemade rolls.  We had my favorite razzleberry pie for dessert for my birthday “cake.” 

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After dinner, we had fun singing some Christmas songs together and opening the last advent ornament.  We all dressed up in our costumes to act out the nativity.  James had been asking to be Joseph for weeks, and he wanted me to be Mary.  Landon, Kelly, and Grandpa Malan were the wise men, and Davis and Asher were the shepherds, although Asher took his costume off before we could get any pictures of him. 

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While they put on their PJs, Shane hid their wrapped books in the front room.  They were excited for their new Christmas books to read on Christmas Eve.

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I read them the last chapter of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to them after tucking them in to bed.  They all wanted to sleep together in Landon’s room.  I love that book, and I always get a big emotional for some reason when Imogene is crying while acting out Mary in the pageant.  I read this book to Camille every year when I was younger, and it’s fun to continue the tradition with the boys.