Christmas Day 2008

What a busy Christmas day! The kids were up by about 7:30am ready to open presents and see what Santa brought them. This year, Santa left them a portable DVD player and movie. Because we scaled back with the gifts this year, the kids were done opening presents and stockings pretty quickly. Kimble even lined up the play-doh she found in her stocking (I loved that). Kevin set the kids up in Karter's new tent and they watched the Wallie movie Santa left in Kimble's stocking. Kevin and I got to open our gifts at our leisure while the kids were occupied. It was a great morning.



We then headed back to my parents' house to open gifts from them. We also had our traditional ham and cinnamon roll breakfast. So good! The kids each had their favorite gifts. Karter just couldn't stop unwrapping and ended up helping my sister, Heather, open her presents too.


Just after noon we made our way to Peoria for Christmas dinner with Kevin's family. Kevin's brothers got remote control helicopters and a Wii, so he was pretty happy. The kids got to open another present from Grandma and Papa Johnson. They really like the jammies they received. We had ham again for dinner, along with rolls, potatoes and salad. Once again, a great holiday meal.

We ended up getting back kind of late. So we just went to bed when we got home. It was sure a wonderful holiday. Kimble and Karter were both so happy with their gifts and that is all that I really hoped for. We are grateful for the time we spent with family and for all the love we shared. Until next year...

A Great Christmas Eve...

For the last five years we have spent Christmas Eve night with my family. This year was no different, except that the Pratt family wasn't there to liven things up for us. Dad made a yummy dinner of course, roast beef and tamales. Then the fun really began...
First, my mom read the nativity story. My parent's have a book with ornaments that the kids get to put on the tree as we read. It really helps to keep the kids interested in the story of Jesus' birth.


Every year we make an ornament for our tree. We have decorated snowflakes and glass balls in the past years. This time, we got to color our own wood ornaments. Kimble really got into it , meanwhile Karter preferred coloring the newspaper underneath his elf.





Next, gingerbread (or in our case, graham cracker) houses. Kevin loves building things so he really got into this activity. Even Kimble got her own bag of frosting and gave it a whirl. She did a great job for her first try and she was sure proud of her fine work. My sister-in-law Amy even made a truck out of the graham crackers, so creative.




Finally, we had our sibling gift exchange. Kevin and I got an awesome FHE storyboard packet from Steph and Aaron. The kids also got to open a gift from the Pratt boys (but really Steph). Kimble got handmade food- pizza, cookies, even sprinks- and a baking set which she loved. Karter received a handmade jingle ball and crayon carrier. The ball was a huge hit. By the time we were finished, we were all tired and ready to head home. Kimble just couldn't wait for Santa to come to her house.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Time to Party!

This weekend we attended the Johnson Family Christmas Party over at Kevin's parents' house in Peoria. We got to do our family gift exchange before the extended family arrived. Boy did Kimble and Karter love the gifts they got.
We enjoyed several things once everyone else got there: we had Mexican food for dinner (a tradition), read the nativity story (Kimble was the camel), had caroling around the block, the kids received another present from Santa, hit a pinata and came home with a plate full of cookies.
It was quite a night! The kids loved it and we are so happy that we were able to spend time together. We hope to see you all on Christmas.

Polar Express

Thursday night, we hopped aboard the Polar Express for a trip to the North Pole. The Pratt family joined us and we had tons of fun (even though we were frozen and almost got stuck in the snow a few times).


The kids got to wear their Polar Express/Christmas jammies on the train.

We obviously did not put enough layers on our kids. Karter was little cold and tried his best to stay warm while we waited for our turn to board.

Somehow, among all the shuffling of children, Kevin ended up sitting with all the kids. I eventually made my way over when McKay decided to sit with his dad, so Kevin wasn't alone the entire trip.


The kids really enjoyed their hot (actually luke warm) chocolate and cookies.

After reading the Polar Express book and singing a few Christmas songs, the kids peered out the window to get a glimpse of "the North Pole."

Santa then boarded the train with us and gave each child a gift. Karter was more than happy to take the bell from Santa. Kimble was more reserved. So Santa simply placed her bell on her lap and wished her a Merry Christmas.

Kimble was fine once Santa left our car for the next and the bells soon became a game. Kimble and Dallin had a bell brawl a few times before we made our way back to the train depot.


We quickly snapped family pictures in front of the sign and walked briskly back to our vehicles, all the while hoping that we were not stuck in snow. Kevin helped a couple cars get out before we even attempted to move our own. Luckily, with a lot of praying on my part, we made it out just fine. We are so grateful that were able to ride the train again this year and that the Pratt Family was able to make the trip with us. I am definitely done with the snow for the season!

Way to Go Kevin!

Every year at the Town of Queen Creek, they have a gingerbread house contest as part of their Christmas Party. This year, Kevin was assigned by his group to make a Winnebago while the rest of his team made the house. Can you guess what movie they are taking their idea from?... Christmas Vacation (you know, the Griswold family). He was able to make the vehicle all by himself and I think he did an awesome job! Now that I know he can do such a great job, I may have to take advantage of his cake decorating skills.

Fun Family Tradition

Last night we finally made our way over to see the lights at the Mesa Arizona Temple. Kimble had a doctor's appointment "in town", so we just hung around waiting for the sun to go down and headed over. The kids loved seeing so many lights, it seems they can never get enough. It is always great to take pictures at the temple and all the lights helped create a wonderful backdrop. Kevin just couldn't stop taking picture after picture.

Lights, Ribbon, Snowflakes...

It has been more than a week since we put up our tree and I just couldn't bring myself to decorate the huge thing. Fortunately, the lack of decoration got to me and I finally decided to get to work. Kimble and Karter put on the non-breakable ornaments (mainly wood snowflakes) wherever they could reach. I, meanwhile, broke out the ladder to hang blue and silver balls all the way to the top. I ended up using almost all the ornaments I had- this is the tallest tree we have ever come home with. I am so happy that the tree is now complete and not leaning anymore.

Christmas Craft

After Christmas last year, I found some fun cookie jars for a really great price at Michael's. I finally decided to pull them out and let the kids have a little fun. Kimble focused mainly on tracing the line between sections until she realized it didn't have arms and Karter just loved being allowed to play with a marker (which was a permanent marker by the way). Even though they didn't spend much time on the snowmen, I think that they were so proud in the end!