Christmas in Arizona

Just thought I would update with our Christmas festivities.  We have had a good week.  It is a bummer that the kids don't get out until just before Christmas.  Their last day was Thursday.  But it was okay, we squeezed in all of our pre-Christmas fun over the weekend.  Regan and I went to the Nutcracker on Saturday.  It was the first year we've ever done that.  She had been wanting to do it for years but it had never worked out until this year.  She loved it.  She asked me what part was my favorite and I told her which dance I liked the best.  I asked her which part she liked the best and she said, "I liked just being there with you the best."  Sweet girl.

We had wanted to go caroling, but it never really worked out.  We actually didn't do a lot of the things that a lot of people do, but I have to say, I didn't get stressed out about Christmas at all this year.  It was just a lot of fun.  The only stress was our musical number in church, which was on the 16th.  The lady who coordinates the musical numbers in our ward called us at the last minute and asked if we could put something together.  Because my kids are incredibly gifted and incredibly good sports, we accepted with only two days to practice.  They pulled it off beautifully.  I was very nervous about accompanying them with so little time to prepare--I'm not as gifted as they are--but I was able to do it without making any distracting mistakes.  :)

We were happy that we were finally able to have a Christmas where we weren't a charity case.  It is so fabulous to have Dixon working again!  Our Christmas started off back in September when Grandma and Grandpa Abersold were visiting.  Our trampoline was dying and they decided to buy our repair part that we needed as part of our Christmas.  That was great, since the kids play on the trampoline all the time.  Our next event was Black Friday.  Grandma Hoho was here, and she bought us a new TV.  All we had to do was go stand in line for a couple of hours at Walmart in the middle of the night.  I took Hayden and Porter with me and we had a great time and got quite a bit of our shopping taken care of that night.  Thank you grandparents  for your gifts!

We spent Christmas eve finishing up our shopping and doing all of our wrapping.  I don't like putting gifts under the tree until Christmas eve.  It seems as though the kids start acting more greedy the longer the presents are under there.  So we did all our wrapping and putting under the tree on Christmas eve.  We had our traditional foods, plus some new additions.  The kids like making little kebabs by putting olives, pickles, cheese and ham on toothpicks.  They say it doesn't feel like Christmas eve until they make those.  :)  This year I made stuffed mushrooms and Dix made California rolls.  It was delicious.  Then we watched Home Alone, and then acted out the Nativity Story.   Hayden and Porter took off to go to their friends' house when we were done, and we watched Joy to the World with the little kids.  They were all asleep before 8.

Christmas morning started for most of us with Regan screaming, "Merry Christmas!" right at 7 am.  We told the kids that they weren't allowed to wake us up before then.  So she and Landon were watching the clock, patiently waiting.  We lined them up in age order, and let them go downstairs to see if Santa visited.

He did.  It was kind of bittersweet, knowing that this was the last Christmas we will have with our 6 kids for a long time.  Hayden will be gone on his mission for the next two Christmases, then Porter will be gone for the next two.  So hopefully we will all be together again in 5 years.

Hayden got a digital camera that he can take with him on his mission.  Porter got a digital piano that he can plug headphones into so I don't get to (have to?) hear him composing his amazing (?) music.  Landon got a Kindle.  Regan got rollerskates, Turner got a pogo stick and Cooper got a Big Boots truck.  Everyone was thrilled except Turner.  He had no interest in a pogo stick.  We decided to wrap up his big present instead of having it from Santa, because we knew that once he saw it, he wouldn't be interested in unwrapping anything.

Round 1 of unwrapping:
Cooper got some extra guys to go with his truck.
Turner got a stuffed leopard Regan bought for him at a garage sale.
Regan got Just Dance 4.
Landon got a Yoda mug.
Porter got ear buds.
Hayden got a watch.
I got a Kindle.
Dix got an apron.

Round 2:
Cooper got a Skylander Giants toy.  But we don't have Skylander Giants.  Turner got excited...
Turner got Skylanders!  He was ecstatic.
Regan got a Skylanders toy.
Landon got a book
Porter got a table top tennis set that he picked out himself.
Hayden got a copy of Jesus the Christ with his name embossed.
I got some ornaments Cooper made in school.
Dix got a white church shirt.

Round 3:
Cooper got a Batman costume.
Turner got more Skylanders.
Regan got new cute slip on shoes.
Landon got a Skylander.
Dix opened a package of shirts.

Round 4:
Turner opened a Lego set.
Regan opened a desk lamp.
Landon got a Lego set.  Turner commandeered it.

Round 5:
Landon got a watch.

Great Christmas.  Everyone was very happy.  And they've been busy playing ever since.