One of our best Christmases ever.....

Here are the Santa presents each child asked for.....Legos Police Command station for Xander, Legos Star Wars destroyer ship for Garrett, an American Girl baby doll for Eleanor and Savannah got a Magnadoodle..... The stockings were full of dental supplies this year, though the boys got itunes gift cards and the girls got pretties for their hair and to wear....

Grama Annie made the cutest tutus for the girls...Eleanor also got a special crown. They have worn the tutus every day since they got them....in public, to tithing settlement, shopping...I love that they love wearing them!

Eleanor got her American Girl baby doll. She named her "Flower" (I'm pretty sure her mom is from Oregon and hugs trees and wears Birkenstocks, but I could be wrong!) I made new blankets and pillow and burp cloths for her and she got a new bottle in her stocking.
Everyone got one extra present....Garrett got a Carolina Panther's jersey...he was THRILLED!!

It was wonderfully simple and everyone was content! We had one mishap...Santa should have brought Savannah a baby doll too. She lunged for Eleanor's and we sent someone at lightning speed to grab a doll from upstairs. All was calm after that, but she likes to "kidnap" Flower and stroll her around when Eleanor is not looking...we have to bribe her with another baby doll when Eleanor wants Flower back.

My very favorite present were the watercolors from my Mom. They made me cry and my children will not inherit them til I die! In May, when I went out to visit, we chose the pictures I wanted her to paint. For some reason, I forgot about them these last few weeks. I opened them and burst into tears. They are truly masterpieces, labors of love and I have the best mom in the world! (And, yes, I will post pictures of them later!)

Jason's parents came over for brunch and we ate some seriously yummy huevose rancheros and crab cakes that I made from scratch. They gave us a Wii for Christmas. It was a fun to try it out! It was the perfect amount of presents and the perfect amount of entertainment.

We were able to skype my dad in Kuwait, Anna and John and fam in Germany and Ray and Stephanie and fam in Arizona. By phone we talked to Emma and Jake and Mom and Marlowe. I talked to Becca and Sarah the day before and Eliza a few days before that. I love my family so much and even though we are millions of miles apart (literally!) I saw Cousin Bella and Maddie and Eric and saw Ray and Steph's awesome house (I am inspired Stephanie!) and got to tell Sarah how much I love her and miss her and hear all about Becca's awesome advertures in motherhood! It was wonderful!!!!
The most important thing was that we were able to keep our perspective and remember the true meaning of Christmas. We are so blessed because our children were thrilled with what they got and we were together. We are blessed to have a home, food and a job. I am blessed to be able to fufill my desire to be a stay at home mom. My health is improving and that is such a huge blessing. We are taking each day at a time and loving every minute of it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!