Christmas Day 2010

It looks like Santa came...



I was worried that the kids would wake up before Dan got home from work, but he actually came home before we woke up! Natalie and Nathan were so eager to open their stockings and it was all they could manage to wait for Tyler (who was a little slower to wake up). Here they are with their stockings:

At the last minute this year I decided that the kids were too old to keep using their baby stockings so we bought some cheap ones and I let the kids decorate them.

Santa is all about the Target dollar section!

Then it was on to the Christmas tree...
Santa's gifts are the unwrapped ones - it's a tradition of ours.

Let the mayhem begin!!!

Natalie truly loved every gift she recieved, and all she asked for was the cat in the last pic - she might be hard to buy for but she doesn't ask for much!

Nathan also loved his gifts, but I think he loved opening them more than anything else.

I also got a little something...

A new hairbrush! I really needed one. It actually came with the professional hairdryer Dan got for me - I must say it's the best hairdryer I've ever used! Definitely worth the $$ to keep my hair healthy. You did good babe!

Just look at those happy faces!

Tyler took his time opening each gift and playing with it. He knew how to make Christmas last all day!

The kids got Dan a couple gifts:

Nathan & Tyler gave Dan glass wipes for his truck (since they always goober up his windows when they ride in it), and Natalie picked out air freshener for him (and I'm not going to say why!) He appreciated their thoughtfulness :)

Here's some before/after shots:

Look at how skeptical Dan is about the Italian seasoning! But he loved the Longhorn key (he's been trying to steal mine ever since our landlord gave me a longhorn key to our new house).

Can you tell that it's later in the day?

Natalie & Nathan finally convinced Tyler to finish opening up his gifts - it was killing them that they were just sitting under the tree unopened!

(the bath toys were by far the most popular!!)

Natalie got right to work coloring with her new paints

After the initial rush of Christmas morning, Dan went to bed and we just relaxed and enjoyed the day together. The kids just wanted to play with all their new things which I was happy to let them do. Once Dan woke up my parents came over to have Christmas with us. As you can see, the kids were still in their pj's (isn't that how Christmas is supposed to be??)-

"We're ready to open!"

(sidenote: check out Natalie's zhu zhu pets - she loves them!)

Natalie's absolute favorite game to play - MarioKart Wii

Thank you so much Mom & Dad!!! Natalie was so sad when ours broke!

Can you tell how happy Nathan is that he got what he asked for?!

While you can't tell, Tyler is actually quite excited here because he got a new Buzz Lightyear (another toy of ours that suddenly quit working). And Nathan was happy too since that was something he had asked for as well.

Happy Girl!

The kids were so excited and happy to play!

Mom and Dad, you completely spoiled them and we can't thank you enough for helping make this Christmas so wonderful!!!

Here we are sportin' our gifts and enjoying the finger foods!

We truly had such a blessed and enjoyable Christmas. It was so nice being able to just stay home as a family and not go anywhere. It definitely felt less rushed and chaotic which was really nice. And I know our kids loved getting to spend some good quality time with each set of grandparents. Thank you to all of our family who were so thoughtful and generous! We love you all and hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.

Merry Christmas!!!!!