Christmas at our house

I still haven't figured out where the month of December went to! Christmas makes it such a crazy time! I feel like I ran and wrapped non-stop, but it is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year! Maybe I thrive on all of the madness?!?!?!
Russ and I are still kids at heart--we were both so excited for the kids to open their Christmas presents that we were afraid we wouldn't be able to sleep! Russ and Dyllan got to open up their matching Utah Jazz Pajama pants on Christmas Eve. We woke up Christmas morning at 4:30 (no it is NOT a typo!) so we could open all of the presents and get to all of the grandparents' houses before Dyllan and Kelsey had to go with Mitch. My mom, dad, Ray, Karen, and Tyson came over to watch the wrapping paper tornado. We all got spoiled rotten and Dyllan told us later that day that this was the BEST Christmas ever! We finally hopped on the bandwagon and now have a Wii. We've already had a lot of good laughs (especially when I TRY to sing the lyrics on Rock Band--I am definately NOT a singer! Paula, Simon, and Randy won't have to worry about me auditioning for American Idol anytime soon--I'll save the humiliation for the privacy of my own home!) Kelsey is actually pretty good at the drums, and Dyllan has surprised us by wanting to be the lead singer most of the time. Maybe if his dream of becoming a professional football player doesn't work out, he can pursue a singing career...

tI am truly grateful for everything I have been blessed with in my life. I love my family more than anything on earth and I am so grateful for every day that I get to spend with them. During the month of December we spent quite a few nights sitting by the Christmas tree talking about the real reason for Christmas. It's so easy to get caught up in the commercial aspect, and I know that children sometimes have a hard time seeing past that, but we wanted Dyllan and Kelsey to know how good they have it and to remind them that not everybody is as fortunate as they are.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Logan. We were at the St. George temple while Russ' sister went through the temple...I think his face sums it all up--it was soooo cold out there!

We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve. I thought my kids were going to be with Mitch that night so I'd planned a little celebration for earlier in the day when we were all together. We took a bottle of sparkling apple cider out to the still unfinished new house and had a little party.

Mitch didn't end up taking the kids, so we took them with us when we went to dinner with my parents and my brother Ray. Afterwards, we went back to my mom's and played a game. I was such a party pooper that night. I think Russ, Logan and I were in bed by 10:00 (I had to be up at 5:30 the next morning!!!). Dyllan and Kelsey probably thought we were a couple of old farts because they stayed up by themselves to celebrate at midnight. Oh well. New Year's Eve isn't one of my favorite holidays.
It looks like our house might not be done until sometime next week. Russ has begged the builder to have it done before my birthday, so we'll have to see if it happens. Kelsey really wanted to have her birthday party there, but I don't think she is going to be able to. The tile setters didn't show up when they were supposed to this week, so now it has bumped everything back a few days. I guess they enjoyed their New Year's Eve a little TOO much...
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!